Day 168 - 03 Oct 95 - Page 33
1
2 Q. At 4 p.m. you have a new Manager who takes over the shift
3 on Saturdays?
4 A. That is right. The responsibility would pass from the
5 day shift Manager to the night shift Manager. There are
6 other managers on different shifts but the actual shift
7 responsibility would change.
8
9 Q. When people take a drink break in the office they do that
10 standing up, do they?
11 A. There are chairs there.
12
13 Q. It is a quick break though?
14 A. Yes, it is a two minute break. It is a chance for you
15 to get a drink.
16
17 Q. Why do they not go in the crew room?
18 A. Because the crew room is up 63 stairs.
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20 Q. They can go to the crew room if they want to?
21 A. I see no reason why they could not go to the crew room,
22 no.
23
24 Q. But they do not?
25 A. But they generally do not, no, because you would
26 actually spend five minutes walking up the stairs.
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28 Q. You do not give them enough time off so that they can go
29 upstairs to the crew room?
30 A. It depends. If someone came to me and said they needed
31 specifically to go to the crew room, for instance, to put
32 their watch in their locker, to go to the toilet, for
33 instance, then we would let them go, but the drinks breaks
34 are not intended as a specific break. They are just in
35 addition to the crew members' 45 minute break.
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37 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Can I understand that then, because you
38 talked of drinks breaks as if they come automatically. Is
39 there any provision for a break of some kind, somewhere
40 half way through each half of a shift? Let us suppose for
41 a moment -- it may be, in fact it is contested in some
42 respects -- that the three quarter of an hour break should
43 come somewhere around the middle of the shift?
44 A. It would generally do so. If on a day shift, for
45 instance, you would work like a 7.00/4.00 or a 10.00/6.00,
46 and if you are on a 10.00/6.00 your break would almost
47 certainly be around 2 o'clock which would be fairly close
48 to the middle of the shift.
49
50 Q. Then should everyone get a break of some kind ---
51 A. Absolutely.
52
53 Q. -- of some length about half way through the first half and
54 about half way through the second half, or do they just get
55 what you call a drinks breaks if they ask: "Can I go and
56 have a drink?"
57 A. They are entitled to their 45 minute break. If they
58 are working over a 10 hour shift then they get a 20 minute
59 break in addition to the 45 minute breaks, and then in
60 addition to that they also get a drinks breaks as and when
