Day 086 - 09 Feb 95 - Page 12
1 store during the day or during the week when you have to
2 cut down on the number of tills or you say, as a manager --
3 you have been a manager -- "We had better cut down on the
4 number of tills because we have not got enough staff to
5 operate as we would like"?
6 A. It does happen from time to time that people miss a
7 shift at work. Normally, we are scheduled to accommodate a
8 certain amount of absenteeism, but occasionally you will
9 get into a situation where you will have less people than
10 you would have preferred to have on the shift. Train-up
11 managers in the scheduling and the position of the crew,
12 that No. 1 paramount consideration is the health and safety
13 of our staff and customers. So, it happens but it is
14 something that has to be managed.
15
16 Q. Regarding the close, would it concern you if staff had to
17 rush to finish their close?
18 A. If the staff were running around without due care and
19 attention, it would concern me but if they were just -----
20
21 Q. Or not cleaning the machines properly because they did not
22 feel they had the time?
23 A. There is no pressure. Your restaurant closes, there is
24 no customers there, the tasks have to be completed. If
25 there are less people it just takes a little bit longer.
26
27 Q. So if there was pressure it would concern you?
28 A. Yes.
29
30 Q. Fat filtering machines, do they often break down?
31 A. They break down on occasion.
32
33 Q. Is it quite often the case that staff have to take
34 equipment to another nearby store to be filtered if they
35 are waiting for repairs to be done?
36 A. I would say that quite often that a machine is -----
37
38 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You said if "equipment" be taken to another
39 -- did you mean equipment or fat?
40
41 MR. MORRIS: I am not 100 per cent sure exactly what equipment
42 we are talking about. It refers to "equipment" in the
43 statement.
44
45 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Let me just have a look.
46
47 MR. MORRIS: It is point 4.
48
49 MR. JUSTICE BELL (To the witness): Have you known of fat or any
50 kind of equipment having been taken to another store to
51 filter? Can you imagine what it might be which might have
52 to be taken to another store?
53 A. Yes, I have known the portable fat filtering machine
54 that is used to filter the fat in a restaurant, if it is
55 broken down in one store, another store may borrow it to
56 perform that task. So, yes, it would move from one store
57 to another. It is a portable piece.
58
59 Q. Why ever do you take the one which is broken down from one
60 store to another?
