Day 120 - 03 May 95 - Page 42


     
     1   Q.   Which includes personnel matters, does it not?
     2        A.  I do not think it does.  I do not think there is a
     3        single paragraph in his franchise agreement which deals
     4        with personnel practices.  They are left to him.
     5
     6   Q.   You said that McDonald's set the standards?
     7        A.  Yes.
     8
     9   Q.   They set standards on personnel management for franchisees?
    10        A.  No, they are trained in what our McDonald's personnel
    11        practices are.  They can, at their choice, vary those
    12        practices and conditions.  If we feel they are wrong, we
    13        are there to guide and advise.  We cannot dictate to them.
    14
    15   Q.   You said you were responsible for personnel matters for
    16        Ireland after 1985?
    17        A.  Yes.
    18
    19   Q.   Is that correct?
    20        A.  Yes, that is right.
    21
    22   Q.   It is still technically, well, some of the stores or many
    23        of the stores are still technically run by Pantry
    24        Franchises Limited, are they not in Ireland?
    25        A.  It is a very difficult situation now Pantry Franchises
    26        Limited still exists.  The ownership has changed, and he
    27        had an exclusivity clause for Dublin for ten years, and at
    28        the end of that ten years that exclusivity clause was taken
    29        away, so he is now not entitled to exclusivity in Dublin.
    30        He is equally entitled to outside of his exclusive zone if
    31        he can impress us that we ought to let him do so.
    32
    33   Q.   Effectively his stores still come under your remit of being
    34        Head of Personnel with responsibility for Ireland?
    35        A.  Yes, but I could only guide and advise him.  That was
    36        my role, to advise and guide him, and if I found that he
    37        was infringing local regulations I would draw those to his
    38        attention.
    39
    40   MS. STEEL:  Are you saying, you, as a person with responsibility
    41        for personnel in Ireland, all you advised him on was where
    42        he might be running foul of the law in Ireland?
    43        A.  No, I would advise him on any kind of personnel, as I
    44        would a franchisee in the UK, but we do not dictate to them
    45        how they would run their stores.
    46
    47   Q.   What kind of personnel things were you advising then on?
    48        A.  I would tell him what our rates of pay were, and then
    49        when you make an allowance for the value of the pound, as
    50        against the punt, and see where his rates of pay were, see 
    51        what his performance-related procedures were, guide him on 
    52        those, on benefits, tell him what new benefits we had 
    53        introduced; but I could not dictate to him to introduce
    54        those benefits.  I could not dictate to him to say that as
    55        long as he paid above the minimum rate for Ireland, that
    56        he should pay performance reviews.  That is his choice.
    57
    58   Q.   Did you tell him about the Company attitude to trade unions
    59        as well-- advise him on that?
    60        A.  I very well may have done.  It is not an important

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