Day 216 - 06 02 96 - Page 31
DAY 216
KEVIN HARRISON, Examined:
1 until the end of their shift. Taking breaks at the
2 beginning or end of the shift was generally very
3 unpopular. Sometimes, people are on the tills for four or
4 so hours and were desperate and asking for a break. At the
5 Ipswich store, I can remember saying no to crew when they
6 asked for their break. I was not in charge of the counter
7 at Colchester. The situation with early or late breaks
8 would generally happen every Saturday and sometimes on
9 other days, particularly on Friday evenings (people working
10 4.00 to close would be sent for breaks at 5.00 p.m.).
11
12 "People were under pressure to finish their breaks early.
13 I remember people being hauled over the coals when they
14 were two or three minutes late back from a break. People
15 would also be called back off their breaks who had not had
16 their allotted time. I can remember going up to the crew
17 room to call people down off their breaks at the Colchester
18 store."
19
20 Just one question about the point there about you calling
21 people back off their breaks, and earlier you said about
22 saying no to crew who asked for their breaks. Was this
23 something you did off your own bat, or was this -----
24 A. No. At Colchester, I would have been instructed to do
25 it, because I was still a crew member at the time, doing
26 the training.
27
28 Q. You were a trainee Manager -----
29 A. Yes, at Colchester. I was in crew uniform for
30 12 weeks. For most my time at Colchester, I worked as a
31 crew member.
32
33 Q. "I recall the figure for food costs being manipulated at the
34 Ipswich store. The calibrations on the soft drink machines
35 were set at less than the standard (so there would be less
36 syrup per cup). I can remember doing this myself. There
37 were customer complaints that the drinks were too weak
38 (Cola, Diet Coke, orange and root beer) and then we would
39 turn the calibrations back a bit; we would see what level
40 we would get away with before there were complaints.
41
42 "At the Colchester store, cheese slices were cut in two.
43 One piece would a be third of a slice, and that would be
44 used on the fillets, and the other would be two-thirds of a
45 slice and would be used on the burgers. I cannot remember
46 the reason given for doing this.
47
48 "Lettuce would be used that was past its 'sell by' date.
49 I can remember some that had started to go rotten. I was
50 told to clean out the grotty bits and use some of the
51 better parts. This was to cut waste food costs.
52
53 "Holding times in the production bins would be abused. The
54 times would be changed to cut waste costs. If the
55 filtering machine was not working properly, I was told to
56 tear the filter paper with an implement which was normally
57 used to push up the filter tube. Mark Davis told me to do
58 this. I did not always wear the protective equipment,
59 particularly the head gear, as it was uncomfortable and
60 greasy. I was never reprimanded for this. At the
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