Day 167 - 02 Oct 95 - Page 38
1 presenting the complaint to the successive levels of
2 management and ultimately to the Human Resources
3 Department. The restaurant management receives queries
4 related to scheduling from Crew Members every week. These
5 can be anything from requests for extra hours or extra
6 shifts to requests not to work weekends or night shifts.
7 All requests are taken into consideration and accommodated
8 as far as possible. I cannot find any record of a formal
9 complaint over the last four years made by a crew member
10 with a grievance over allocated hours, nor do I recall any
11 such incident.
12
13 Logan's comment that Managers' meetings will be called
14 'partly to discuss unsatisfactory employees' is
15 inaccurate. These meetings are held at the restaurant on a
16 weekly or occasionally fortnightly basis to discuss matters
17 affecting the store, for example, sales and the progress
18 and promotion of employees. Individual employees'
19 performances may occasionally be discussed, for example, in
20 connection with a promotion or with a forthcoming award,
21 such as crew member of the quarter. A list of performance
22 reviews due to be completed may be allocated among the
23 Managers and satisfactory as well as unsatisfactory aspects
24 of an employee's progress may be discussed for the purpose
25 of preparing these reviews. I do not recall any 'hit
26 lists', either verbal or written, of unsatisfactory
27 employees.
28
29 I do not recall any instances of employees being allocated
30 shorter or 'unsocial' hours on the understanding that the
31 hours would improve with their performance. Hours are
32 allocated on the basis of a number of factors reflecting
33 suitability for each particular shift.
34
35 I would disagree with Logan's claim that it was perceived
36 to be 'easier to make someone resign rather than sack
37 them'. If an individual crew member's performance is not
38 satisfactory, a Manager will concentrate on improving that
39 individual's performance, for instance, by teaming him or
40 her up with a 'buddy' (a fellow crew member) who will
41 provide constant advice and support.
42
43 I am surprised by Logan's allegation that certain employees
44 would be harassed until their performance improved. This
45 has certainly never been my experience of colleagues nor my
46 person approach. A Crew Member who continually makes
47 mistakes will be corrected by his Manager. It is the
48 Manager's role to discuss an individual Crew Member's poor
49 performance with that individual and to help improve it by
50 guidance and training. As far as I am aware, during my
51 seven years employment at Bath, no employee has resigned as
52 a result from harassment from a Manager. Moreover, the
53 restaurant has not received any complaints from Crew
54 Members to that effect either directly or via the Human
55 Resources Department.
56
57 Logan states that he did not know of any system for
58 checking inconsistencies in schedules. In fact, schedules
59 are checked every week by the direct superior of the
60 manager who prepared the schedule, usually the Store
