Day 122 - 05 May 95 - Page 24
1 A. Are you talking about the differentials?
2
3 Q. -- suppose the minimum went up 10p, would the ones who were
4 20p up, or whatever, already, get the extra 8 or 10p as
5 well?
6 A. I am sure they did, my Lord. I am sure that the
7 differential was lifted for everyone in the restaurants.
8
9 MS. STEEL: Up until June 1987, every time the Wages Council
10 brought in a new order, all the crew would start again at
11 the basic minimum wage, would they not?
12 A. No, not at all.
13
14 Q. Could you get pink volume XII, please?
15 A. Yes.
16
17 Q. If you turn to tab 27?
18 A. Yes.
19
20 Q. Page 666. This is a memo from you dated 11th June 1987. In
21 the second paragraph it says: "This year for the first
22 time everybody will receive the increase in their basic
23 pay, in addition to any performance reviews they have
24 received, e.g. if you were 15 pence over the old rate, will
25 you remain 15 pence over the new rate?
26 A. Yes.
27
28 Q. So prior to that date the employees were going back down to
29 the minimum each year when the Wages Council -----
30 A. No, they were not. Prior to that date if you were in
31 excess of whatever the basis wage -- it was not guaranteed
32 that they would all get the straight differential uplift.
33 But in this year I resolved that they would all get the
34 differential upgrade. So whatever rate you were on, if the
35 increase was 10p, you would have 10p and you would continue
36 to get your performance reviews.
37
38 Q. But what was the position prior to that?
39 A. We set a rate that would be paid to everyone. Well,
40 before then it was a very -- if you remember the Wages
41 Council order was a very complicated document. This year
42 it is simplified. They have just brought out a straight
43 base rate, that was the minimum rate, and you were working
44 with parts of a penny on increases under the old system.
45
46 Q. The Wages Council order was, but McDonald's was not was it?
47 A. No, what we used to do, we used to round it to get it
48 to an easy penny to work to.
49
50 Q. Yes, the next penny up?
51 A. The next penny up, yes.
52
53 Q. Can you just explain, in terms of the year before ----
54 A. It meant the year before that, and the years before
55 that, the crew people who were above the minimum may not
56 get the full, who were well above, may not get the full
57 increase. Their wages were set by their region. They may
58 not all get the full basic increase, increase on the basic,
59 so if their increase on the basic was 8.752p, that might
60 have been rounded up to 8p.
