Day 180 - 31 Oct 95 - Page 59
1
2 Q. For what purpose?
3 A. Employment Protection Act.
4
5 Q. Yes, but put it in ordinary language, full-time for what
6 purpose? For the purpose before this year of saying you
7 had to work five years rather than two before you could
8 make an application for unfair dismissal, save in
9 exceptional circumstances, or for some other purpose?
10 A. Right. I do not know the direct question, but I know
11 the answer is as you would have put it in statute. In
12 statutory terms, a full-time worker begins at 16 hours a
13 week, to qualify for statutory employment protection rights
14 after two years service.
15
16 Q. Yes.
17 A. That is the key issue.
18
19 Q. Yes.
20 A. Of course, in lay terms full-time means 35 hours a
21 week, say.
22
23 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
24
25 MR. MORRIS: I just want to deal with a loose end. You said
26 when you made your expert visit to McDonald's, even though
27 it was not a busy period, you saw staff skip running in
28 order to complete the delivery of orders to customers
29 within the required service times. Do you remember that?
30 A. I do.
31
32 Q. Yes. That is your evidence. Have you read the Health and
33 Safety Executive Report ---
34
35 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is clear that -----
36
37 MR. MORRIS: -- on McDonald's restaurants?
38
39 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, because he refers to it in his
40 statement.
41
42 MR. MORRIS: Sorry, I could not find ----
43
44 MR. JUSTICE BELL: He says, "I have read the 1992 HSE Report";
45 paragraph 16.
46
47 MR. MORRIS: Yes.
48
49 THE WITNESS: Yes, I ----
50
51 MR. MORRIS: You said, "The Report describes the application of
52 the hustle policy as a good illustration of the culture of
53 the Company which 'has resulted in a conflict between
54 operational requirements and safety where the need to get
55 the product to the customer and to maximise sales had taken
56 precedence'." In the actual report itself, in the
57 executive summary of the report, a two page summary, which
58 was a comprehensive look at McDonald's procedures on safety
59 matters by the Health and Safety Executive, it concludes:
60 "The example of how 'hustle' was interpreted demonstrates
