Day 150 - 07 Jul 95 - Page 31


     
     1        A.  Right.
     2
     3   Q.   Now again, just so that I am not completely on the wrong
     4        track -- it is not you that I am worried about, it is me --
     5        can you just explain your understanding of what an all
     6        night close is?
     7        A.  Generally, we would have people come in probably about
     8        midnight and work through till about 6 o'clock, and the
     9        responsibility, if you like, or duties for an all night
    10        close would generally be those of a detailed cleanliness
    11        project; a general sort of spring clean.
    12
    13   Q.   Was it something that people liked having to do?  When
    14        I say "having to do", liked doing rather?
    15        A.  Well, the way we used to have the system in practice
    16        was that we would have people specifically come in at
    17        12 o'clock.  So, to all intents and purposes, it was a 12
    18        o'clock midnight to 6 o'clock a.m. shift.  So it was
    19        another shift, so to speak, rather than any extra hours
    20        working through.
    21
    22   Q.   Is that what the premium rate applies to?
    23        A.  It would be paid the premium rate from midnight to
    24        6 o'clock.
    25
    26   Q.   Did the crew members have to work an all night close,
    27        whether from time to time or regularly?
    28        A.  No.
    29
    30   Q.   If they did not want to, were they forced to?
    31        A.  No, because once again if they are not -- if they were
    32        not willing to do it, then I would end up, I suppose, with
    33        somebody working through who does not want to do the job
    34        and it would make no sense them being there.  They would
    35        not be productive.
    36
    37   Q.   I will give you an example by way of comparison.  When one
    38        is a GP and you have a collective practice, three or four
    39        people in it, and it comes to the question of who is going
    40        to do the night shift of going out to people, I think a
    41        lot, and it is fair to say, a lot of doctors would prefer
    42        not to be doing that, if one goes by newspapers and by
    43        friends who are doctors?
    44        A.  Sure.
    45
    46   Q.   Another example, from my own experience, is when one is
    47        reading newspapers to see whether they contain anything
    48        that is against the law before they go out for
    49        publication.  There is a time when somebody has to do an
    50        unsocial shift or you get woken up at two in the morning by 
    51        the Daily Mail, or whatever.  People do not generally like 
    52        that, but everybody is expected, as part of the team, to do 
    53        it from time to time?
    54        A.  Right.
    55
    56   Q.   Whether they like it or not that is what they are expected
    57        to do.  Is that the position at McDonald's in relation to
    58        the all night close?
    59        A.  No.  No one is expected to do an all night close.  That
    60        is why what would generally happen is that the Manager will

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