Day 214 - 01 02 96 - Page 29

 
 

                                                                  DAY 214
 
 
 
 
 
     1                     Cross-examined by the Defendants
     2
     3   MS. STEEL:  (To the witness)  You heard Mr. Khazna's evidence
     4        yesterday?
     5        A.  Yes, I did.
     6
     7   Q.   Do you agree with the staffing levels that he felt were
     8        necessary for the store?
     9        A.  Not entirely, no.
    10
    11   Q.   What is your view?
    12        A.  Well, as I was actually working in the restaurant,
    13        I was not supervising, I could tell how many people you
    14        could have actually working there.  The restaurant was
    15        short when I took over.  There were 70 to 80 people working
    16        there.  Probably, on 10 less than what he would say it
    17        would have been OK, you could run the operation
    18        effectively.
    19
    20   Q.   10 less than what who would say?
    21        A.  On 90 people, you could have run the operation
    22        effectively, because the productivity of the crew was quite
    23        good.
    24
    25   Q.   So the morale of the crew was all right, was it?
    26        A.  No.
    27
    28   Q.   It was not?  But they were still productive, you said?
    29        A.  Yes, they were.  A lot of them were fairly experienced.
    30
    31   Q.   So morale was not good, but productivity was; is that
    32        right?
    33        A.  Productivity of the crew was OK, yes.
    34
    35   Q.   Quite good, as Mr. Rampton said?
    36        A.  Yes.
    37
    38   Q.   So when you left, you said there was 170 on the payroll?
    39        A.  That is correct, yes.
    40
    41   Q.   So why did you want all that many on there?
    42        A.  Why did I want that many?
    43
    44   Q.   Yes.
    45        A.  Various reasons:  to cover holidays, cover people
    46        studying.  We had a larger percentage of part-timers at
    47        that time than we did full-timers; therefore, you needed
    48        more people.  If people were only working one shift,
    49        obviously you need five people instead of one full-timer;
    50        and, also, we had other restaurants opening up in the area, 
    51        and I was hiring crew for those restaurants, if they were 
    52        needed. 
    53
    54   Q.   How many crew would that have involved?
    55        A.  There was no specific number set.  I just had people
    56        working there part-time, and if they were needed to go to
    57        another restaurant I could have replaced them.
    58
    59   Q.   I do not understand that.  What is the point in taking them
    60        on speculatively that they might be needed in another
 
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