Day 166 - 28 Sep 95 - Page 14


     
     1        fixed plastic cover on the notice board along with all
     2        other necessary notices, including a copy of the Shops and
     3        Factory Act.  He is also wrong in saying that the highest
     4        hourly rate paid was £3 per hour and that only a couple of
     5        employees were paid at this level.
     6
     7        As far as I can now recall, there were at least six
     8        employees paid in excess of £3 per hour.  His comments
     9        about merit rises being few and far between are also
    10        surprising, as I recall that merit rises were given
    11        frequently".  Do you stand by that?
    12        A.  Yes.
    13
    14   Q.   Just one clarification on that, when you talk about at
    15        least six employees being paid in excess of £3 an hour, do
    16        you mean by that people who have not reached the management
    17        level?
    18        A.  That is right.
    19
    20   Q.   Going on to paragraph (7) of your statement, you say:  "It
    21        is correct that on the occasions when the store was short
    22        staffed (usually due to people not turning up for a
    23        scheduled shift) we asked employees to work extra hours.
    24        Most staff were happy to do so.  Magill alleges that the
    25        majority of employees worked well over 39 hours per week
    26        but later qualifies this in his Continuation Statement to
    27        say that half the full-time staff worked for more than 39
    28        hours.  Crew were not scheduled for more than 39 hours a
    29        week and full-time employees would be scheduled to work
    30        five days a week.
    31
    32        At the time, I did not have a large number of permanent
    33        staff, the majority being part-time.  As far as I recall,
    34        very few of the crew, either full-time or part-time, worked
    35        more than 39 hours a week, and even then only occasionally
    36        when we were short staffed".
    37
    38        Just on that, if it is, in fact, the case that Mr. Magill
    39        says in his Continuation Statement more than half the
    40        full-time staff worked for more than 39 hours, that is to
    41        say, more than half of the full-time staff worked, does
    42        that affect what you say in the statement?
    43        A.  Can you say that again, sorry?
    44
    45   Q.   It is not particularly important.
    46
    47   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.
    48
    49   MR. ATKINSON:  Paragraph (8) -- just one question:  If people
    50        refused to do further hours would you take disciplinary 
    51        action against them? 
    52        A.  Not at all. 
    53
    54   Q.   Going on to paragraph (8):  "If Magill is intending to
    55        imply that one of my managers dismissed any employees in
    56        the manner you describes, I refute that entirely.  Any
    57        dismissals which took place would have been carried out by
    58        me and I certainly never dismissed anyone in that manner.
    59        I deny also that I or any of the managers would force an
    60        employee to leave by being particularly unpleasant to

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