Day 259 - 10 Jun 96 - Page 52
1 overtime; is that fair enough?
2 A. If they wanted me to make a calculation, be it on
3 overtime or rates of pay or whatever, I was au fait with
4 the procedure to do so.
5
6 Q. But there was no procedure for calculating overtime, was
7 there?
8 A. In which case I would not have been asked to do so.
9
10 MR. JUSTICE BELL: We are just going round and round in circles
11 now.
12
13 MR. MORRIS: I do not think so at all.
14
15 MS. STEEL: Did you ever actually make any calculations to do
16 with overtime, in reality?
17 A. Of course, I must have done. I worked there for seven
18 years. Someone would have at one stage -----
19
20 MR. MORRIS: For crew members?
21 A. Yes, I would have been asked at some stage to check a
22 crew member's payslip.
23
24 MR. MORRIS: But there is no overtime -----
25
26 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just pause a moment. Overtime can mean two
27 things: it can mean hours worked, let us say, over
28 39 hours a week, or it can mean time and a quarter, or time
29 and a half, or time and three-quarters, or double time.
30 I have heard it used in both ways. It can mean the time
31 over whatever the basic hours per week is, or it can mean
32 the increased rate. Now, what was it that you had to
33 calculate in relation to overtime?
34 A. I would have been asked to look at the rate of pay.
35
36 Q. What?
37 A. I would have been asked to look at the rate of pay that
38 had been adhered to specific hours.
39
40 Q. Is your recollection that McDonald's paid time and a
41 quarter or time and a half for periods over 39 hours, or
42 what is your recollection?
43 A. My recollection -- and it is quite sketchy at this
44 stage -- but we had different shifts and, depending on how
45 many hours over and above 39, it may have been first paid
46 time and a quarter and thereafter at time and a half. But
47 I do not really remember. It is quite a long time ago, and
48 it was not really my job to look at how many hours were
49 being submitted, but more how they were being paid and the
50 tax calculation thereon.
51
52 MR. MORRIS: Would it come as any surprise to you that
53 McDonald's did not calculate and pay people as to time and
54 a half or time quarter over 39 hours? That has been
55 established in this case.
56 A. My recollection of McDonald's payment methods were that
57 people were paid for what they worked, and quite fairly,
58 because we were governed by the Wages Inspectorate.
59
60 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is another matter. But is your
