Day 152 - 11 Jul 95 - Page 53
1 who might decide that he wants to run and slide in which
2 case the Managers would discourage that strongly as a
3 dangerous practice.
4
5 Q. How much room is there in a restaurant, whether in the
6 kitchen or in the bit behind the till, the front area, to
7 run and slide?
8 A. Very little room. In the kitchen it would be virtually
9 impossible. On the front counter you could possibly manage
10 it but it would be a dangerous exercise.
11
12 Q. Another thing, Mr. Davis -- I apologise for being slightly
13 more disorganised than I normally am -- what about breaks,
14 crew breaks in shifts? We looked at some examples that you
15 attributed to your mythical Karen Bloggs earlier today.
16 Were they regularly given when you were at Colchester?
17 A. Yes.
18
19 Q. Were they always given at the same point in the shift?
20 A. No.
21
22 Q. Were they sometimes abbreviated?
23 A. Very rarely.
24
25 Q. What would bring about a decision to shorten the breaks?
26 A. If (and this would be a very rare occasion), for
27 instance, there was an exceptionally large amount of
28 business that we had not foreseen came through the front
29 door, then I would possibly go up to the crew room and
30 say: "Is there any chance of anybody coming down five or
31 10 minutes early off their break?" Usually, they would
32 agree to that and then we would let them have the five or
33 10 minutes at a later date or, sorry, at a later time
34 during the day.
35
36 Q. So they would be compensated for the loss later on in the
37 same day?
38 A. Certainly, yes.
39
40 Q. When you had a busy time would you stagger the breaks?
41 A. Certainly, yes.
42
43 Q. Would the crew always get a break when they wanted it or
44 would they sometimes have to take it at a time which was in
45 your discretion?
46 A. Usually, what we did was either the Manager of the
47 shift organised the breaks or we would nominate one person
48 to do the front breaks and another person to do the back
49 breaks, and they would co-ordinate them through the day so
50 that it was staggered. If anybody had a special request or
51 wanted a break early, then we would usually, you know, if
52 it was possible, then they would concur with that.
53
54 Q. In those days were breaks paid or not?
55 A. Yes, I believe they were.
56
57 Q. Then, Mr. Davis, labour costs; an allegation -- I do hope
58 that I have it right this time -- which is made in this
59 case is that the Company itself exerts pressure on its
60 Managers to keep their labour costs to a fixed figure.
