Day 116 - 26 Apr 95 - Page 30
1 restaurant. The crew people can say anything they want.
2 The Supervisor does not pass comment at all at that time;
3 all he does is take notes.
4
5 Q. Are they not a bit scared that it will get back to the
6 Manager or the first assistant and it will be taken out of
7 them?
8 A. Well, certainly when I first came to the company, I
9 had never heard of a rap session, and that crossed my
10 mind. But, in fact, once you go to a few, you realise that
11 they will say exactly what they want. If they do not like
12 the manager, they will say: "We do not like him or her".
13 That goes down in the rap session notes. Nothing is missed
14 out. The rap session notes are then typed up and posted on
15 the crew notice boards for everyone to see.
16
17 Q. But do they have names?
18 A. Oh, yes, oh, yes -- not the names of the individuals
19 attending the rap session.
20
21 Q. No, do they have the names of the people who have
22 complained? The answer you have just told me, no?
23 A. No.
24
25 Q. Do they have the names of the people against whom the
26 complaints are made?
27 A. If it is the management team, yes.
28
29 Q. They do?
30 A. Absolutely. That is posted on the notice board, and
31 then after about a week the store management will sit down
32 with the Supervisor and often with their field Personnel
33 Officer and they will discuss the contents of the rap
34 session notes, and they will draw up a plan for dealing
35 with them.
36
37 They are not all complaints; they are often suggestions to
38 improve things. They will draw up a plan. They then call
39 the crew meeting. Now, they expect everyone to attend the
40 crew meeting. At the crew meeting they will tell the crew
41 what their plans are to deal with the matters brought up at
42 the rap session and invite their comment. Then they will
43 implement them after that meeting.
44
45 Q. Well now, going back to that page and skipping down,
46 therefore, from what you have told us about rap sessions to
47 grievance procedure, the company has written:
48
49 "The grievance procedure. You may from time to time have
50 business-related problems that cannot be solved through
51 crew meeting, rap sessions or one-to-one discussion with
52 management. If you feel you have such a problem and have
53 attempted to get it resolved through rap sessions and
54 one-to-one discussion with your restaurant manager, feel
55 free to discuss it with your operations supervisor."
56 A. Yes.
57
58 Q. Can I pause there? If we go back to that hierarchy chart
59 I find "supervisor" immediately over above "restaurant
60 manager"?
