Day 216 - 06 02 96 - Page 35

 
 

                                                                  DAY 216
 
                                          KEVIN HARRISON, Cross-examined:
 
 
 
     1        A.  Since qualification last September.
     2
     3   Q.   I expect you have a hierarchy there, too, do you not?
     4        A.  To an extent, yes.  It is more of a team environment
     5        than a hierarchy.
     6
     7   Q.   How many hours a week do you do as a psychiatric nurse?
     8        A.  37 and a half, plus any overtime.
     9
    10   Q.   Do you think a 50 or 60 hour week is too long for ordinary,
    11        fit, relatively young, male human beings?
    12        A.  I am not sure that I am in a position to answer that.
    13        It would be a personal opinion.
    14
    15   Q.   Yes.  But I am asking for your personal opinion, because
    16        you put into your second statement that you worked
    17        approximately 50 to 60 hours a week as a Second Assistant
    18        at Ipswich, which is one of the reasons why you left the
    19        Company.  That was too many hours for you, was it?
    20        A.  Yes -- given that there was no recompense for it.
    21
    22   Q.   You were paid for the hours that you worked; your contract
    23        says -----
    24        A.  You were paid a standard salary.
    25
    26   Q.   Your contract said, did it not, that you must work as many
    27        -- that there were no fixed hours for salaried staff, did
    28        it not?
    29        A.  But I think 50 or 60 hours is an unreasonable
    30        expectation on a regular basis.  I mean, I dare say there
    31        are occasions when it was more than that, but that would
    32        have been the norm.
    33
    34   Q.   This is merely a request for information, Mr. Harrison, as
    35        I do not know the answer.  Who was the Manager at Ipswich
    36        when you were the Second Assistant there?
    37        A.  David Quinn.
    38
    39   Q.   David ---
    40        A.  -- Quinn.
    41
    42   Q.   Quinn, with a Q?
    43        A.  Q-U-I-N-N, I believe.
    44
    45   Q.   Do you remember a chap called Neil Skehel who was a
    46        Second Assistant at the same time as you?
    47        A.  Yes, I remember him, but I believe he was a Floor
    48        Manager when I was there.
    49
    50   Q.   One of your complaints, Mr. Harrison, seems to be that on a 
    51        busy Saturday, at lunchtime, people would work through the 
    52        lunchtime period from 12.00 to 3.00 without a break.  Can 
    53        you think of a way of running a restaurant -- and it is a
    54        restaurant which is open to the public at lunchtime -- on a
    55        busy Saturday and allowing people to take all their breaks
    56        during that time?
    57        A.  It would not be a case of allowing all of them to go at
    58        any one time.  It was so structured so that none were
    59        allowed to go at the busiest period, regardless of how long
    60        they had been working.  I mean, it would be possible for
 
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