Day 214 - 01 02 96 - Page 59

 
 

                                                                  DAY 214
 
                                           DAVID ROBERTS, Cross-examined:
 
 
 
     1        A.  Not necessarily.
     2
     3   Q.   But, generally speaking, they do?
     4        A.  If the store is understaffed, then the customer will
     5        suffer, not necessarily the crew.  The standard -----
     6
     7   Q.   So that work carries on at exactly the same pace?
     8        A.  In a lot of circumstances, yes.
     9
    10   Q.   But people have to work longer hours?
    11        A.  It depends on -- you have to be specific as to what; if
    12        it is over one day, over a month, a year?
    13
    14   Q.   If a store is understaffed over a period of time, the
    15        people that are there, they have to do the work of more
    16        people, they have to do the work that more people should be
    17        doing, do they not?
    18        A.  Well, they can go home.
    19
    20   Q.   OK.  How many people do you believe you need in the store
    21        on a Saturday at the Heathrow store?
    22        A.  Which part of the year?  If there is anything
    23        happening, a specific thing happening in the store at that
    24        time.
    25
    26   Q.   Just a normal Saturday?
    27        A.  What time?
    28
    29   Q.   Lunchtime.
    30        A.  Lunchtime?
    31
    32   Q.   Yes.
    33        A.  About 25.
    34
    35   Q.   Right.  If you only had 18, or something like that, those
    36        18 would have to do the work of the 25 people that really
    37        you needed, would they not?
    38        A.  They would -- everything that needed to be done would
    39        have to be done by those 18 people, yes.
    40
    41   Q.   So they would have to work faster and they would have to
    42        work harder?
    43        A.  If they did not work faster then things would happen
    44        slower.
    45
    46   Q.   So, generally speaking, people would have to work harder
    47        and faster if the store was understaffed?
    48        A.  I am not saying that.  Things would happen slower.
    49
    50   Q.   So you would just turn customers away? 
    51        A.  Customers may have to wait longer. 
    52 
    53   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Can I put it to you this way:  I can imagine
    54        that most, or all the McDonald's stores I have walked past,
    55        you can quite clearly see into the store unless they are on
    56        different levels, but if they are on pavement level, you
    57        can quite clearly see in.  You can see the queues, if there
    58        are queues; you can see the people behind the counter; you
    59        can see to some extent people working in the kitchens.  Do
    60        you agree with that?
 
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