Day 134 - 13 Jun 95 - Page 56


     
     1        the evening and premium would kind of meet, because during
     2        the premium time there are actually relatively few people
     3        who work, so more people would have benefited during the
     4        evenings which is when we actually have more people working
     5        when our restaurants are open; whereas at premium time, as
     6        it was, fewer people worked, but also it was because around
     7        that time we began to open our restaurants at slightly
     8        differing hours, so you would get the situation where we
     9        had some restaurants opening until midnight and so on.  So,
    10        it really tidied up the system as well.
    11
    12   Q.   You did not, in fact, use that money to increase the 7 p.m.
    13        to 11 p.m. rate, did you?
    14        A.  I think we did.
    15
    16   Q.   Because if you compare it with page 682, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
    17        and 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., they both went up 30 pence an hour?
    18        A.  Which page are you looking at, please?
    19
    20   Q.   682 compared to 688.
    21        A.  Right, and if you could take me through which
    22        comparison you are making?
    23
    24   Q.   7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in 1990.
    25        A.  Which is -- at which?
    26
    27   Q.   Provincial.
    28        A.  Right.
    29
    30   Q.   It is £2.60 and in 1991 to £2.90, so it has gone up 30
    31        pence?
    32        A.  Yes.
    33
    34   Q.   7 p.m. to 11 p.m. in 1990 is £2.85 and in 1991 it has gone
    35        up to 3.15, 30 pence again?
    36        A.  Yes.
    37
    38   Q.   What you are really doing is cutting down on the amount of
    39        pay that you want to pay out; you are cutting the rates for
    40        antisocial hours?
    41        A.  Is that a question or a statement?
    42
    43   Q.   It is a question.  I am putting that to you.
    44        A.  It did not sound like a question.
    45
    46   Q.   Would you accept that?
    47        A.  No, I would not accept that in the way that I have
    48        already described, because what we, in fact, would have had
    49        before is that some people by having the rate running
    50        throughout that 12 hour period, you have people then 
    51        earning equally because we would then have had people 
    52        working when the restaurant was open at a different rate. 
    53        Now, I appreciate the point you are making about the --
    54        I am not sure what word you used, but the unsocial hours
    55        but, given the way our business operates, it seemed more
    56        logical to us to have it running from 7.00 to 7.00.  It is
    57        also true to say that many other employers do not pay a
    58        night rate of that sort in our kind of business.
    59
    60   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I think what is being put to you is that you

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