Day 155 - 14 Jul 95 - Page 57


     
     1        back area, then that becomes a training need where there
     2        was not enough people trained for certain areas.  So it was
     3        a bit of training, a bit of poor availability.
     4
     5   Q.   So you are saying there was not a problem with not enough
     6        crew, it was just that they were in the wrong places?
     7        A.  On certain occasions, yes, there was a shortage of
     8        staff, but whether the restaurant transferred crew from
     9        another restaurant or not, I cannot tell you.
    10
    11   Q.   In the three weeks that you were there, you said that you
    12        had to take over scheduling after three weeks?
    13        A.  Yes.
    14
    15   Q.   So what was the problem in three weeks before you took
    16        over?
    17        A.  As I have just mentioned, certain day parts there was
    18        not enough crew, certain day parts there were too many
    19        inexperienced crew, certain day parts you would have too
    20        many crew in one hour and then you would get another day
    21        when there is, you know, not enough crew in a certain
    22        hour.  But that was not purely down to the fact that the
    23        restaurant did not only just have not enough people; it
    24        could also be due to the fact that the availability was not
    25        right.
    26
    27   Q.   There was a problem that the store did not have enough
    28        crew?
    29        A.  In some areas, yes.
    30
    31   Q.   Overall?
    32        A.  Well, overall, it was at the time of February that
    33        I took over.  I was really trying to see myself, looking
    34        for June, July, August, when the summer months come around,
    35        I did not want to be stuck with this amount of crew for
    36        those summer months as well.
    37
    38   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  As I understand it, quite a high proportion
    39        of your payroll are part-time, and some of them can only
    40        attend on one or two days a week or at certain hours during
    41        the day?
    42        A.  Yes.
    43
    44   Q.   Is what you are saying there was a problem with scheduling
    45        because, whether or not had you enough people, you did not
    46        have the spread of availability to schedule properly for
    47        the trade which might come in at that time; is that what
    48        you are saying, or is it something different?
    49        A.  No, it is a little bit of -- OK, if, like a Friday
    50        night and a Saturday afternoon --- 
    51 
    52   Q.   Yes. 
    53        A.  -- If I have a problem trying to get staff in, I would
    54        assume that I should not have that problem if I have a lot
    55        of students, because, obviously, they are not going to be
    56        at polytechnic, but I was finding different day parts of
    57        different days where there was a lot of inexperienced
    58        people, there was not enough people on certain hours.  It
    59        is very difficult to explain, and it is just scattered all
    60        over the week; some areas there was too many, some hours

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