Day 181 - 01 Nov 95 - Page 51
1 that it is a matter of law; it is not for the witness to
2 tell me, the judge, what the position is in answer to your
3 question.
4
5 MS. STEEL: Sorry, could you just tell me where on the third
6 page that was?
7
8 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is the third page, still in the notes to
9 section 23. If you look at the bottom of the second page
10 "appropriate time", in bold, and then some notes of some
11 relevant cases on the construction of that phrase. Over
12 the page, the last paragraph above subsection (1)(a) is
13 what I have just read. I am only quoting that to support
14 what I have just said, that that is a question of law for
15 me, not for the witness.
16
17 MR. MORRIS: It does seem daft to say tht you must not break the
18 law, but then you can do if it is in your contract.
19
20 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is a matter of law, Mr. Morris. That is
21 all I am saying. You may be right, you may be wrong. If
22 it was of vital importance, we would have to look at all
23 the authorities and I would decide upon the matter.
24
25 MR. MORRIS: I move on to a different subject.
26
27 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is no disrespect to you, Mr. Pearson.
28 I have to be careful of the distinction between what you
29 can usefully and properly tell me and what, for better or
30 worse, I have to decide for myself.
31 A. I understand that.
32
33 MS. STEEL: I am not really sure whether this matters, but when
34 you wanted to go to the Warren Street store, you said in
35 your statement about despite speaking to the local
36 managers. Who was it that you contacted when you asked to
37 -- I do not know whether you remember -- when you asked to
38 leaflet the stores?
39 A. Well, this is a problem. To be honest, I do not
40 remember. I did look for my file at the T&G on this case,
41 but I could not find the file either -- not kind of
42 expecting, ten years later, to be questioned on it. So
43 I just remember making the call. I cannot remember the
44 name of the person I spoke to.
45
46 Q. You cannot remember whether it was at local level or at
47 Head Office?
48 A. All I can say is, it was not local level -- at least,
49 my recollection is tht it was not local level.
50
51 Q. Right. You said that there is a statutory requirement of
52 employers to maintain pay records for five years. Is that
53 still the case?
54 A. Yes, because abolition of wages councils was in 1993,
55 and there is -- I am pretty sure it is five years. I think
56 that provision was perpetuated with the complete abolition
57 of wages councils. I think they were still required to
58 keep records in the possibility that claims would be lodged
59 in the ensuing period. I believe that claims can be lodged
60 up to seven years from the date of the alleged offence.
