Day 153 - 12 Jul 95 - Page 26
1
2 Q. You say on the top of page 10: "With regard to the amount
3 of hours given to individual staff varying enormously, this
4 again is exaggerated." Do you agree with that statement?
5 A. I agree with that, yes.
6
7 Q. "It is true to say that crew members' hours fluctuated" --
8 sorry, hold on a minute. "It is true to say that crew
9 members' hours fluctuated and that crew members were able
10 to work more hours during the school holidays." Do you
11 agree with that?
12 A. I agree with that, yes.
13
14 Q. Then you say: "It is more realistic to state that crew
15 members could be working approximately 50 hours a week
16 during the school holidays rather than 60 or 70 hours, as
17 suggested by Simon, with perhaps 30 to 40 hours a week
18 during other times rather than 25 hours." Do you agree
19 that?
20 A. Yes, I would agree with that generally, although the
21 50 hours a week would be rare and a few people.
22
23 Q. Some people did work 60 to 70 hours a week, did they not?
24 A. No, I do not recall that happening.
25
26 Q. You do not recall it happening?
27 A. Well, I am pretty certain that it did not ever happen.
28
29 Q. Then further down you say: "Of course, it was desirable to
30 have low labour costs, and we attempted to do this by
31 forecasting when the store would be busy or quiet." Do you
32 agree with that?
33 A. By "low", I would have meant that to mean low as
34 compared to, say, you know, 50 per cent or something like
35 that.
36
37 MS. STEEL: If it was 45 per cent of the sales turnover, that
38 would be OK, would it?
39 A. No, no. That would be very worrying.
40
41 Q. So at what point would it stop being very worrying?
42 A. How low would it -----
43
44 Q. Yes.
45 A. It might -- if it was too low, then that could be
46 equally worrying.
47
48 Q. At what point would you stop being very worried about it
49 being too high?
50 A. You would want it to be within a given range.
51
52 Q. Which was? I mean, we have heard -----
53 A. 14 to 17 per cent is what I gave earlier on, I believe.
54
55 MS. STEEL: Right, OK, thank you.
56
57 MR. MORRIS: The national average is 15 per cent, is it not, on
58 the evidence that has been given?
59 A. I am not exactly sure what the national average would
60 be. That would seem to be a reasonable figure.
