Day 121 - 04 May 95 - Page 30
1 A. No. I would say that was something to look into, and
2 I take it it was. That is what that return is for, and if
3 you examine those returns that we have given you, all that
4 we could give you, that is an unusual scenario.
5
6 MS. STEEL: How do you know that?
7 A. Because you have got the returns there.
8
9 Q. You have never even seen this before?
10 A. No, no, no.
11
12 Q. You have never even seen these sheets before; you did not
13 know what they were a minute ago.
14 A. You are not listening. The analysis of overtime -- you
15 have got them there -- Mr. Morris went through them and we
16 worked out that the average number working over 78 hours
17 was 4.5 per cent. I do not know what percentage this is,
18 but it clearly is one that would come up on that report and
19 someone would make enquiries.
20
21 Q. Right, but the whole point is that whether or not it is a
22 high percentage there actually appeared to be quite a large
23 number of your employees that are working more than 39
24 hours a week in various stores across the country and they
25 do not get overtime rates. Basically, your policy does not
26 appear to be worth the paper it is written on?
27 A. Yes, it is. You are taking one sheet here at random.
28 I have given you the analysis of overtime return for the
29 whole of the country, and he has, and Mr. Morris, I beg
30 your pardon, Mr. Morris -- I have not calculated it --
31 Mr. Morris has calculated the number of people
32
33 MR. MORRIS: I think it was Mr. Rampton actually who did the
34 final calculation.
35 A. Was it? Well, whoever did it.
36
37 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I know, you introduced some overall
38 figures ---
39 A. It was just over four per cent
40
41 Q. -- which we can go through and do some arithmetic, if we
42 want to?
43 A. It was just over four per cent. I find that totally
44 acceptable, as long as people are keeping an eye on the
45 number of times people work in excess of 78 hours. That
46 could be a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. I do
47 not know.
48
49 MS. STEEL: There may not be a reasonable explanation.
50
51 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think you have to leave it there because
52 you and Mr. Nicholson, for better or worse, are taking a
53 different view about it. I have to form my view at the end
54 of the day. A time comes when you may not be getting an
55 answer which you find is satisfactory, but that is the
56 answer you are given. So, one has to move on and leave it
57 for comment later on or exploration with another witness,
58 perhaps.
59
60 MS. STEEL: How long are crew payroll summaries kept for?
