Day 154 - 13 Jul 95 - Page 38
1 with the customers, which is, I think, generally what they
2 did on that one occasion.
3
4 Q. Unless you are content that they should do that all the
5 time?
6 A. No. I believe that it is the law that you should have
7 a stipulated place, and in McDonald's -----
8
9 Q. It is obviously very unsatisfactory ---
10 A. Yes, it was.
11
12 Q. -- if the room is locked, unless there is absolutely no
13 alternative for some reason?
14 A. I would agree with that wholeheartedly, sir, yes.
15
16 Q. That was your own attitude, was it?
17 A. It was.
18
19 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just sit down, and then stand up when you
20 want to ask another question. (Pause)
21
22 MS. STEEL: Why were there crew working more than 39 hours a
23 week in your store, in contravention of Company policy?
24 A. I did not understand it to be absolutely strict Company
25 policy. I understood it to be a guideline that you should
26 aim for.
27
28 Q. Well, why was it that the guideline was regularly being
29 ignored? Were you asked to investigate the reasons, take
30 any action, or anything like that?
31 A. Nobody considered it to be major problem, although
32 I may have had discussions with the area supervisor in
33 order to keep it generally the rule that people did not
34 work past 39 hours apart from, probably, the floor
35 managers.
36
37 Q. But they did not threaten to discipline you if you did not
38 make sure that they stopped working over 39 hours on a
39 regular basis?
40 A. No.
41
42 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do you ever remember even being told: "You
43 have to try and keep hours down to not more than 39", even
44 something -- was anything like that said at all?
45 A. Yes, there were discussions about generally trying to
46 keep the hours below 39, definitely, yes, but certainly not
47 in the direction of, you know, disciplinary action or
48 anything of that nature. It was not perceived to be a
49 problem if it was just two or three people working longer
50 than 39 hours.
51
52 MS. STEEL: Each week?
53 A. Yes.
54
55 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Did anyone ever explain to you why there
56 should be such a policy? You were working 50 hours
57 yourself; you might have thought that someone who was young
58 and fit could handle 42 or 43, or even 50, without too much
59 trouble? I do not know, did you think they could handle 40
60 hours, up to, say, 40 hours without too much problem?
