Day 154 - 13 Jul 95 - Page 31


     
     1        employment, then, really, they were not very productive.
     2        You can disagree as to how productive they are, but they
     3        are obviously going to be less productive than somebody who
     4        has been with us a long time.  Therefore, the net effect is
     5        that the food, the uniform and the time spent training
     6        would be a cost of turnover.  That is a fairly common ---
     7
     8   Q.   How can food ---
     9        A.  -- definition of turnover.
    10
    11   Q.   -- be an additional cost?
    12        A.  Additional?
    13
    14   Q.   Additional, over and above the cost of a six crew members
    15        that have been there for six or seven weeks, or 20 years?
    16        A.  When I spoke about the cost of the food, the cost of
    17        the uniform and the cost of training, I was speaking of
    18        that in relation to the cost of turnover within a
    19        restaurant.  So, for instance, say you had a crew member
    20        who left after three weeks, that crew member would be
    21        virtually of nil use, or would be very unproductive during
    22        their first three weeks, yes, but we would still give them
    23        free food, we would still provide them with a uniform
    24        (which they may not bring back), and we have spent time and
    25        energy training that person up for those first three
    26        weeks.  That is what I meant by the cost of turnover.  It
    27        is a fairly sort of common usage in any industry, as far as
    28        I am aware.  It is recognised universally.
    29
    30   Q.   if somebody leaves after three years working for
    31        McDonald's, do you hire two people to replace them?
    32        A.  We may have to, yes, initially.  Your assumption is
    33        that you require absolutely no skill or training to work
    34        for McDonald's.  That is not the case.
    35
    36   Q.   I am not arguing about training.  I am arguing about any
    37        extra cost for food and uniforms.  There is no extra cost,
    38        is there?  Uniforms wear out just as quickly, whether or
    39        not it is somebody who has got three years experience or
    40        two days experience?
    41        A.  Yes, they wear out just as quickly, but what I am
    42        saying is, there will be a proportion of crew who do not
    43        bring their uniforms back.  Newer crew are more likely to
    44        lose parts of their uniform as well, through experience.
    45
    46   Q.   They then do not get their pay.  While crew are going
    47        through their training period, they are not earning as much
    48        as somebody who has been a crew member for three years, are
    49        they?
    50        A.  They are not, no. 
    51 
    52   Q.   So are you saving money in that respect? 
    53        A.  Not saving any money specifically in that respect. What
    54        we are doing is training that person up.  In any industry,
    55        whichever one you look at, there will be a calculation of
    56        the cost of turnover, and that is to what I was referring
    57        when I mentioned those costs.  As far as I was aware,
    58        I thought it was fairly common knowledge.
    59
    60   Q.   If people are leaving sooner rather than later, you also do

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