Day 116 - 26 Apr 95 - Page 10


     
     1        restaurant during that period?
     2        A.  Content, happy working conditions; the youngsters
     3        enjoyed the job they were doing and I got a big kick from
     4        seeing that.
     5
     6   Q.   As Head of Personnel, is it called Manager of the Personnel
     7        Department, amongst other things, or was it?
     8        A.  When I was appointed, I was appointed as Personnel
     9        Manager.  Then when I was made Vice President in 1987 I was
    10        called the Head of Personnel or Chief Personnel Officer.
    11
    12   Q.   Can I continue to call you "Head of Personnel"?
    13        A.  Certainly.
    14
    15   Q.   As Head of Personnel, broadly speaking, what were the areas
    16        of your responsibility within that particular heading, Head
    17        of Personnel?
    18        A.  To recommend to the Operations Department, which is the
    19        largest department in the organisation, means of improving
    20        the conditions, the working conditions, within the
    21        restaurants and within the staff departments.
    22
    23   Q.   Were you concerned, for example, with the level of pay or
    24        was that set by somebody else?
    25        A.  The minimum working wage within the industry was set by
    26        a Wages Council.  What I used to do was keep an eye on what
    27        the rest of the high street were paying, what the rest of
    28        the industry were paying, what the Wages Council order were
    29        dictating were the minimum wages, and then making
    30        recommendations to the Chief Executive Officer for the
    31        current standard of pay for the staff.
    32
    33   Q.   We will come to pay in a lot more detail later on,
    34        Mr. Nicholson.  I just want the general headings at the
    35        moment.  What about hours of work?  Is that something for
    36        which you had a concern?
    37        A.  Not really.  When I took up the post, the maximum
    38        working week was 39 hours for both hourly paid workers and
    39        salaried staff.  That was considerably less than anything
    40        I had been used to in the Police Service.
    41
    42   Q.   I phrased my question badly; I meant was it something for
    43        which you were responsible, directly or indirectly, how
    44        long a week people worked or how many hours in a week?
    45        A.  No, that was set before I took up the post.
    46
    47   Q.   What about the hours worked by young people, that is to
    48        say, people of 18 or less?
    49        A.  18 or less were more often than not part-timers, but if
    50        they were full timers, then 39 hours was the maximum that 
    51        we recommended that they should work.  There were occasions 
    52        when they worked longer. 
    53
    54   Q.   There were, I think, in those days legal requirements ---
    55        A.  There were.
    56
    57   Q.   -- in respect of those people which no longer exist; is
    58        that correct?
    59        A.  That is correct.  They were restricted to less than 48
    60        hours per week.

Prev Next Index