Day 181 - 01 Nov 95 - Page 28
1 which is not to do with the question.
2 A. I beg your pardon.
3
4 Q. Try to follow that, Mr. Pearson.
5
6 MR. RAMPTON: Mr. Pearson, if it be right that the probability
7 is, the overwhelming probability is, that most of the
8 overtime in the sense in which I have proposed it, that is
9 to say, more than 39 hours a week is and always has been
10 done by a minority of full-timers, would you also accept,
11 as a matter of common sense, that they are the people who
12 are likely to have had a number of performance related pay
13 rises and who have been with the Company for, at any rate,
14 a period of months, if not years?
15
16 MS. STEEL: I do not see how the witness can possibly answer
17 that.
18
19 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Please let him answer. Mr. Pearson is
20 managing to answer perfectly well.
21
22 MS. STEEL: It is completely hypothetical.
23
24 THE WITNESS: This table does not show length of service.
25
26 MR. RAMPTON: No, you can look at length of service over the
27 page, if you want to, over the next page. I agree the two
28 are not married up. There is no reconciliation between
29 them, that I will accept.
30
31 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think you had better put your question
32 again and Mr. Pearson can tell me whether he accepts it or
33 not.
34
35 MR. RAMPTON: Yes, I will. (To the witness): Would you agree
36 that it is probable -- if you do not know and say you are
37 not willing to hazard a guess on anything, Mr. Pearson,
38 please say so -- that the full-timers who are doing most of
39 the overtime are likely to be people with a number of
40 performance related pay increases under their belt?
41 A. I must say, I do not see how anyone in my position in
42 this witness box is able to answer that question because
43 neither of these tables is an assessment of the merit
44 reward system. I mean, I do not know whether such data is
45 available, but the merit system itself is service related
46 and, as a trigger point of four months service after 21
47 days and then four monthly reviews.
48
49 So, it is obviously possible that in the table we are now
50 looking at showing length of service that employees in the,
51 say, three to six month category and then the 12 to 24
52 months category, some of those, of course, could be
53 receiving more than the basic, but this table does not show
54 anything about that.
55
56 Q. No, I quite agree with that, Mr. Pearson. Can I put
57 another hypothetical question to you, please? Assume that
58 it be proved by evidence to the satisfaction of his
59 Lordship that what I put to you a moment ago is right, that
60 the full-timers, the majority of the full-timers, who do
