Day 151 - 10 Jul 95 - Page 33
1
2 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No. It says "habitually required". I have
3 read the word "required" as meaning that it is demanded of
4 him. Whether that is so or not in relation to Mr. Alimi,
5 we may find out. But it does not follow.
6
7 MS. STEEL: I am sure we will find out.
8
9 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Then let us wait for it. But it is not what
10 is actually said in the statement.
11
12 MISS STEEL: Then they habitually are working hours different to
13 those from which they have been scheduled?
14 A. No, they are not. In terms of looking at those
15 payslips that are subsequent to my arrival, that would
16 suggest that if there was a particular problem pertinent to
17 Mr. Alimi, or Siamak's hours, then it appeared I resolved
18 them. I would suggest that the fact that it appears once
19 every two or three weeks, these two pay periods come to
20 more than 39 hours together, that it was something personal
21 to him. I have no recollection, but I would suggest it is
22 not -- we would not suggest -- an endemic problem with
23 scheduling. We did not schedule people to work more than
24 39.
25
26 Q. You said you resolved the situation. Do you then consider
27 that there is not a problem with people working over
28 39 hours a week on occasions?
29 A. If I may correct that, I said that had that been the
30 problem, the fact that his hours went down afterwards may
31 suggest that if there had been something, I could equally
32 argue the fact that I had resolved it.
33
34 Q. Then at a later date some of the hours are more than 39 a
35 week.
36
37 MR. JUSTICE BELL: We are arguing the point again. You have
38 laid your ground. We have more evidence to come on this,
39 and we will see where we come out at the end of the day.
40
41 MR. MORRIS: If you look over the page on your statement, at
42 page 4, it says:
43
44 "If, as happens on occasion, a manager finds that he is
45 significantly over or understaffed, he may try to achieve
46 the correct level by asking for volunteers either to go
47 home or to stay on, as the case may be. If that is the
48 case, understaffing, he would be just as likely to
49 telephone, etcetera, other people."
50
51 You agree with what you wrote there; yes?
52 A. To me, that may well lie behind the reason Siamak's
53 hours were perhaps greater than 39.
54
55 Q. You agree with what you wrote there?
56 A. Yes. That is my statement.
57
58 Q. If, as you have put it, the store was overstaffed, people
59 would be sent home, would not they?
60 A. I think if the store was significantly, in terms of the
