Day 214 - 01 02 96 - Page 41
DAY 214
DAVID ROBERTS, Cross-examined:
1 them to work past 12.00 midnight. If you have
2 understaffing in a particular restaurant as well, or in the
3 system generally, you have an even greater tendency for
4 that to happen; plus, in the latter situation, everyone has
5 to work very hard.
6
7 If you do have under-18s working past 12.00, since that was
8 against the law up to 1989 to 1990 and was against Company
9 policy thereafter, you can have a tendency to clock, just
10 to summarise it in that way. What you have to do is make
11 an assessment. "If that is, basically, my case in this; do
12 I have enough material to press this home to the judge,
13 anticipate a bit what Mr. Rampton might ask on the other
14 side, and to what extent does one need to go into detailed
15 figures", if you think you have material to support the
16 broad thrust of your argument. I am not going to stop you
17 because Mr. Rampton has gone into some of the sheets but it
18 deserves a bit of thought, I would suggest.
19
20 MS. STEEL: I think the main thing is really, you know, we are
21 not here trying to defend John Nevison. I do not have a
22 clue what he is like, but it just seems that the Plaintiffs
23 are trying to scape goat him in saying: "There is not a
24 problem with the Company, there is a problem with" ------
25
26 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What you are trying to do is avoid it just
27 being passed off as a four month interlude under one
28 manager. I understand that. All I am suggesting is that,
29 having made your point about it, I suggest it does not bear
30 too much going over.
31
32 MS. STEEL: Right. If I could just say, I mean, I worked out
33 some figures for while Mr. Roberts was Manager, and maybe
34 if I just give them? From 3rd July 1994 to 16th July 1994
35 there were 154 people on the payroll and 47 of them worked
36 no hours.
37
38 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just pause a moment. Yes?
39
40 MS. STEEL: From 17th July 94 to the 30th July 94 there are 141
41 people on the payroll and 22 did no hours; from 31st July
42 94 to 13th August 94 there are 135 people on the payroll
43 and 26 did no hours; from 14th August 94 to 27th August 94,
44 137 people on the payroll, 29 did no hours; from
45 28th August 94 to 10th September 94, 127 people on the
46 payroll, 26 did no hours; from 11th September to
47 24th September 94, 118 on the payroll and 20 did no hours;
48 from 25th September to 8th October 94, 124 on the payroll
49 and 23 did no hours; from 9th October to 22nd October there
50 are 132 on the payroll and 31 did no hours. On average,
51 there were between 100 and 110 people who did some hours
52 over those pay periods. That was understaffed, was it not?
53 A. During that period?
54
55 Q. Yes.
56
57 MR. RAMPTON: It has to be said, my Lord, that I do not accept
58 most of Ms. Steel's figures, on my own calculations.
59
60 MS. STEEL: OK. If those figures are correct, the store was
41
