Day 199 - 11 Dec 95 - Page 05


     
     1        A.  I think in the past employees of McDonald's had spoken
     2        to the press and McDonald's felt that they had been
     3        misinterpreted and things put out of context, and also that
     4        the press was possibly anti-McDonald's and looking for any
     5        little thing to pick on.
     6
     7   Q.   But that was the reason they gave to you for not speaking
     8        to the press?
     9        A.  Yes, basically, the press were anti-McDonald's and they
    10        would twist and turn things to suit themselves.
    11
    12   Q.   Could you talk to the press about promotions and charity
    13        events, and things like that?
    14        A.  Not in any position as a Second Assistant, but the
    15        Store Manager would be able to talk to the press about
    16        charity events and functions, etc.
    17
    18   Q.   "The work was bound to be greasy and high pressure because
    19        it was fast-food work.  Most people realise this when they
    20        first join McDonald's.  They realise that it is the sort of
    21        job where there is no room for slackers.
    22
    23        Every evening careful calculations were done in order to
    24        work out manning levels.  This was done by the following
    25        method.  The tills in a McDonald's store can print out at
    26        any given moment in time the amount of money that has been
    27        taken during that day or since the last printout.  It was
    28        therefore possible to get an analysis from each till of how
    29        much money was taken every hour.  According to the Training
    30        Manual, all the Store Manager was supposed to obtain such a
    31        print out once every hour.  By knowing the number of staff
    32        employed each hour, it was possible to work out the takings
    33        per head per hour.  There was an optimum figure for such
    34        takings per head per hour, which meant that the store was
    35        running with exactly the right number of staff for that
    36        particular hour."
    37
    38        The optimum figure which you have mentioned there, who set
    39        that figure and how do you know about it?
    40        A.  Well, I believe it was set by Head Office and then
    41        passed down to, I presume, then Supervisors, then to the
    42        Manager and then on to the rest of the staff working under
    43        him.
    44
    45   Q.   So where did you hear about it from?
    46        A.  From the Area Manager.  I was told what the optimum
    47        levels were for our store and that is what we had to adhere
    48        to.
    49
    50   Q.   OK.  "If the actual figure was higher than the optimum 
    51        target figure, then the store was under-staffed and more 
    52        staff ought to be taken on.  If the level was below the 
    53        optimum number the store was overstaffed during that hour
    54        and the levels had to be pruned.  The effect of these
    55        calculations was that the Manager would be able to predict
    56        for each hour of the week how many staff he would need and
    57        could therefore trim very finely his manning levels to suit
    58        profitability.
    59
    60        I cannot remember what the optimum figure was for my

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