Day 208 - 24 Jan 96 - Page 23
1 working on that late, and that is because they get an
2 established pattern with a group of people they get on
3 with, and everyone has set tasks and knows exactly how to
4 do it, so on the occasions they do last too long, then,
5 yes, they can complain about it because it was somebody
6 else's fault or .....
7
8 Q. And because they have a set time when they like to get
9 home?
10 A. It is -- a lot of the time you will find the complaints
11 made by people that do not do closes a lot.
12
13 Q. Was there a reason why you were last?
14 A. May be it is to do with your understanding of the way
15 the closes work. I do not believe you have ever actually
16 done a close, and for that reason you are not going to
17 understand the way they work.
18
19 Q. It is because it is the reality, is it not, and you are in
20 a corner because you want to defend McDonald's, and the
21 reality is people do complain because they do not want to
22 work all those hours?
23 A. No, I would disagree with that statement entirely.
24
25 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I had not interpreted his laugh in that way.
26 I thought he did an A level in psychology and it is a bit
27 of home psychology, the ones who do not really like working
28 closes beef if they go on a bit longer; the ones who do not
29 mind doing them are quite happy to collect an extra hour's
30 pay if it does go on longer. I would have thought that is
31 probably human nature. I will have to look at the evidence
32 to see to what extent they do in significant proportion
33 extend significantly longer than they ought to do.
34
35 MS. STEEL: The point is, it does not matter whether it is the
36 people who complain who do not normally do the closes, they
37 are complaining because they are working longer hours than
38 they want to and you cannot get around that.
39
40 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I do not know. A lot of people think if they
41 have to stay up until 1 o'clock in the morning anyway,
42 staying up to 2.00 does not matter. Another person says:
43 "I wish I was in bed at 10 o'clock" and every minute past
44 midnight hurts.
45
46 MS. STEEL: But the point is the witness has said in his
47 statement: "Managers never ask or expect you to work hours
48 that you do not want to".
49
50 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is completely a different point.
51
52 MS. STEEL: No, it is exactly the point.
53
54 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I see that as a different point; whether
55 I accept that or not is another matter. But late night
56 closes, I can see, are sensitive with some people and not
57 with others.
58
59 MS. STEEL: But that is precisely the point. If they are
60 sensitive with some people --
