The European Commission last week agreed to a request from the social partners for an extension to the usual nine month negotiating period for reviewing the Working Time Directive until 31 December 2012.
Claimants who want to appeal against a Tribunal decision must do so within 42 days unless they can provide a good reason for the delay.
It is important for employers to be consistent in a redundancy situation when deciding whether they can offer alternative employment instead of dismissing the employee.