Day 150 - 07 Jul 95 - Page 20
1 Q. Just while we are on that, I will just give you a
2 hypothetical situation -- it probably does not happen in
3 practice -- but if you have a crew member who has worked
4 previously for you and is returning to work again with you,
5 and you have got somebody who is starting absolutely afresh
6 and the one who has worked for you before maybe has a 20p
7 increase on the basic rate from last time, which person are
8 you going to prefer to have working for you? It is a
9 difficult question?
10 A. No, no, but it is, to be honest, very common sensical,
11 and that is to have the person who has been previously
12 trained.
13
14 Q. Why is that?
15 A. Because, to be honest, the time and effort that myself
16 and the restaurant team have put into that person would be
17 reflected in, to be honest, they could start the job
18 straightaway, become proficient. So, if anything, it is
19 probably more efficient, looking at it as a business, to
20 have the person coming in fully trained rather than to
21 spend time and resources, both sort of financial and
22 personal, in training that person up. So, it may be short
23 term but, as running a business and as a business person,
24 it is far better to have somebody in who is trained to do
25 the job. Absolutely.
26
27 Q. From your experience, and you have been a Manager now for
28 over 10 years in operations?
29 A. Yes.
30
31 Q. Is this system whereby people are paid at the rate they
32 were getting before they left and then return, is it a
33 system which, generally speaking, works well in practice?
34 A. Well, my experience is that it works very well in
35 practice, both as a Restaurant Manager and as a Supervisor
36 and continuing up within the operation structure.
37
38 Q. Are you aware of a fair amount of complaints about its
39 operation, generally speaking?
40 A. I have never received any complaint about somebody
41 coming back on the outgoing rate in recognition of what
42 their previous performance was about.
43
44 Q. If you have to go and get the files, certainly in relation
45 to another store ---?
46 A. Right.
47
48 Q. -- in order to know what they were being paid before, what
49 happens if -- it is over, I think, 3 years is about the
50 period we have heard -- what happens if it is three years
51 or more and the file has been chucked out?
52 A. Right.
53
54 Q. How on earth do you know then?
55 A. I would not know obviously, but I would hazard a
56 calculated suggestion that in the three years the pay rate
57 probably from the Company would have gone up anyway to mean
58 that that person would be starting on a higher rate
59 irrespective of their previous leaving rate. Certainly
60 three years, yes.
