Day 204 - 15 Jan 96 - Page 38
1 if they want to, that Supervisors do not make thorough
2 checks to find out what is going on at store level?
3 A. I think Supervisors do make through checks. I think in
4 this instance, obviously, from what has been said there
5 I probably should have spotted this going on. However,
6 I did not, and it is surprising to me that I did not. If
7 I had have -- if somebody had come to me with any problems
8 of that nature, then I would have investigated it
9 thoroughly and made sure it did not happen again and
10 possibly disciplined the Managers concerned.
11
12 Q. If you can miss something like this, you could be missing
13 under-18s working past their legal hours, could you not?
14 A. Yes, possibly, yes; unlikely, but possible.
15
16 Q. If you did not get to hear of it, then further up the chain
17 is not going to get to hear of it either, are they?
18 A. Generally, with things of this nature, you would get to
19 hear of it. In this particular instance, we did not, no.
20
21 Q. Can I just ask, on page 5 of your statement in paragraph C,
22 you said: "Every year there was a Human Resources audit.
23 We had to keep clock cards going back a few months,
24 together with the schedules." Why do you say a few
25 months? It was much longer than that, was it not?
26 A. It was a few months that we had to keep them with
27 regard to the Human Resources audit. It went back three
28 months. I was not really stating there that the exact time
29 we were supposed to keep them. I think we generally kept
30 them two years, something like that, although I cannot
31 recall the exact time period it ran.
32
33 Q. In your previous statement you said they were to be kept
34 for three years?
35 A. That is probably about right then.
36
37 Q. Do you remember that now?
38 A. Well, it may have been three years, yes.
39
40 Q. You are aware, are you not, that there has been controversy
41 about the fact that these clock cards have not been
42 produced?
43
44 MR. RAMPTON: There has been no controversy at all, my Lord.
45 The Defendants have asked for documents which do not
46 exist. That is the only controversy there has been. If
47 Ms. Steel refuses to believe it, that is her problem. It
48 is not a controversy.
49
50 MS. STEEL: (To the witness): Was that the reason that you
51 wrote "a few months", so that we would think that they
52 would not be in existence still?
53 A. When I wrote the statement, I had already been in court
54 previously where it has become plainly evident that they
55 are not in existence. So why should I bother to do that?
56
57 Q. I do not know. You tell me.
58
59 MR. MORRIS: Have you heard of the Crew Opinion Survey?
60 A. Yes.
