Day 140 - 22 Jun 95 - Page 56
1 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Are we going to come back to your Kingfisher
2 blue volume?
3
4 MR. MORRIS: We may do, yes.
5 A. Which tab are we on?
6
7 MS. STEEL: Tab 90. It is the letter to Mr. Quinlan but it says
8 at the top there is a note from Shelby Yastroe
9 saying: "Stan, Mike sent this to me but I believe the
10 issues that need answers are more in your ball park than
11 mine. Could you have someone reply". Did you reply to
12 this letter, do you know?
13 A. I would think we had, yes.
14
15 Q. In the second paragraph, the second lot of underlining,
16 they say: "Secondly we have also heard that McDonald's tend
17 to do a great deal of part-time hiring to save the expenses
18 incurred in paying for benefits". Is that correct?
19 A. No.
20
21 Q. Are there less expenses for part-time workers in terms of
22 paying for benefits than full-time workers?
23 A. No.
24
25 Q. There is no difference at all?
26 A. No.
27
28 Q. Do part-time workers in the States have exactly the same
29 employment rights as full-time workers?
30 A. Yes. There is no law requiring one to have one or the
31 other. The laws cover them in the same way.
32
33 Q. I do not think that was what I was trying to ask.
34
35 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Forget theory for a moment, but is there any
36 particular way in which the Corporation, or one of its
37 franchisees, might be better off so far as paying benefits
38 is concerned, or the crew member might be the worse off by
39 being employed part-time apart from any pro rata estimate
40 of benefit so far as the crew member is concerned, i.e. if
41 you are only working half the hours, I can see maybe a crew
42 member may get half the benefit, but then presumably the
43 franchisee has to employ two people half the time and might
44 end up paying the same total benefit. But is there any way
45 in which franchisee or McDonald's can save paying benefit
46 by employing half part-time?
47 A. No, my Lord, there is not. There is nothing that is
48 required of full-timers that then is not required of
49 part-timers. There is no difference in benefits as far as
50 legal requirements are concerned.
51
52 MS. STEEL: What about in terms of, for example, if a crew
53 member made an allegation of unfair dismissal, would they
54 have had to have been working for McDonald's for a certain
55 period for that to be allowed?
56 A. No. From day one, whether you are part-time or
57 full-time, you would have the same rights and privileges.
58
59 MR. MORRIS: The differential which has been admitted by the
60 Corporation, although the actual amount is in contest, the
