Day 120 - 03 May 95 - Page 42
1 Q. Which includes personnel matters, does it not?
2 A. I do not think it does. I do not think there is a
3 single paragraph in his franchise agreement which deals
4 with personnel practices. They are left to him.
5
6 Q. You said that McDonald's set the standards?
7 A. Yes.
8
9 Q. They set standards on personnel management for franchisees?
10 A. No, they are trained in what our McDonald's personnel
11 practices are. They can, at their choice, vary those
12 practices and conditions. If we feel they are wrong, we
13 are there to guide and advise. We cannot dictate to them.
14
15 Q. You said you were responsible for personnel matters for
16 Ireland after 1985?
17 A. Yes.
18
19 Q. Is that correct?
20 A. Yes, that is right.
21
22 Q. It is still technically, well, some of the stores or many
23 of the stores are still technically run by Pantry
24 Franchises Limited, are they not in Ireland?
25 A. It is a very difficult situation now Pantry Franchises
26 Limited still exists. The ownership has changed, and he
27 had an exclusivity clause for Dublin for ten years, and at
28 the end of that ten years that exclusivity clause was taken
29 away, so he is now not entitled to exclusivity in Dublin.
30 He is equally entitled to outside of his exclusive zone if
31 he can impress us that we ought to let him do so.
32
33 Q. Effectively his stores still come under your remit of being
34 Head of Personnel with responsibility for Ireland?
35 A. Yes, but I could only guide and advise him. That was
36 my role, to advise and guide him, and if I found that he
37 was infringing local regulations I would draw those to his
38 attention.
39
40 MS. STEEL: Are you saying, you, as a person with responsibility
41 for personnel in Ireland, all you advised him on was where
42 he might be running foul of the law in Ireland?
43 A. No, I would advise him on any kind of personnel, as I
44 would a franchisee in the UK, but we do not dictate to them
45 how they would run their stores.
46
47 Q. What kind of personnel things were you advising then on?
48 A. I would tell him what our rates of pay were, and then
49 when you make an allowance for the value of the pound, as
50 against the punt, and see where his rates of pay were, see
51 what his performance-related procedures were, guide him on
52 those, on benefits, tell him what new benefits we had
53 introduced; but I could not dictate to him to introduce
54 those benefits. I could not dictate to him to say that as
55 long as he paid above the minimum rate for Ireland, that
56 he should pay performance reviews. That is his choice.
57
58 Q. Did you tell him about the Company attitude to trade unions
59 as well-- advise him on that?
60 A. I very well may have done. It is not an important
