Day 259 - 10 Jun 96 - Page 39
1
2 Q. Your company that you were working for had been found out.
3 That is why it would have bothered you, is it not?
4 A. It would have bothered me that improper record perhaps
5 had led to somebody not being paid correctly at the time.
6 But I am 100 per cent sure that any discrepancy would have
7 been put right very, very shortly after it was noticed. It
8 was never their intention to underpay anybody for hours
9 worked.
10
11 Q. It was never, maybe, your intention, but you do not know
12 what was happening at store level, apart from things that
13 may have circulated through to you. The Wages Act came in
14 in 1986, did it not?
15 A. I cannot remember. I do not know exactly when it came
16 in.
17
18 Q. You are a consultant to 14 different companies on payroll
19 matters; you worked at previous places; you were at
20 McDonald's for six years; and you are giving evidence in
21 this case; and you do not know when the Wages Act came in?
22 A. Not exactly, no, but if you say it is 1986 -----
23
24 Q. It is known as -----
25
26 MR. RAMPTON: If Mr. Morris -----
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28 THE WITNESS: I do not remember refer to it. I do not need to.
29
30 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You do expect a lot of perfection from a lot
31 of people. If she said she does not remember what the date
32 of the Act is, if you think that that impugns her evidence
33 you can tell me about it in due course. It is for me to
34 judge whether it is because she is ignorant or because
35 people forget things from time to time. You do not have to
36 take it up with the witness.
37
38 I do not want you to ask about the construction of an Act
39 of Parliament or regulations. That is for me. If you want
40 to challenge what Mr. Mills' attitude was, for whatever
41 that matters, by all means do so with Mrs. Pearce.
42
43 MR. MORRIS: Do you know how many inspectors cover the London
44 area for wage-related inspections, how many wages
45 inspectors worked from the Wages Inspectorate office in the
46 London area, approximately?
47 A. I have no idea. We only ever dealt with Mr. Mills.
48 I have no idea how many others were there.
49
50 Q. I think we heard evidence from Mr. Pearson, who is on the
51 Wage Council, something like 75. Do you know how many
52 companies would be affected at that time by inspections?
53 A. I have no idea. It was of no interest to me.
54
55 Q. Would you accept hundreds of thousands?
56 A. I would have thought -----
57
58 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, Mr. Morris.
59
60 THE WITNESS: I do not know.
