Day 153 - 12 Jul 95 - Page 06
1 A. They were given the choice whether they accepted it or
2 not, so they had the choice not to accept the pay rise; and
3 the other thing to remember is that if they had any
4 performance reviews in the future, that would have been on
5 top of the 10 pence.
6
7 Q. Yes. So you would have thought it would have compensated
8 because, presumably, that would be fair?
9
10 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No. What he is saying is, he is not talking
11 about being fair; he has not applied his mind to being
12 fair.
13
14 MR. MORRIS: I am asking him.
15
16 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No. He does not have to consider whether it
17 is fair or not, because what he said is that people were
18 given the choice. If they thought it was unfair,
19 presumably, they would not take the 10 pence rise; they
20 would stick with paid breaks.
21
22 MS. STEEL: Do you remember what year it was that this change
23 over took place?
24 A. Not exactly, no.
25
26 Q. Were you already at the Colchester store when Kate Scannell
27 began working at the Colchester stores? I think she moved
28 from the ---
29 A. I think she started -----
30
31 Q. -- Ilford store, Romford store?
32 A. I think she started on the day -- I think she
33 transferred the day it opened. So she was there from day
34 one, so she started almost exactly the same time as I did.
35
36 Q. She says that she was not given a choice about whether she
37 changed from paid breaks to unpaid breaks, that she was not
38 consulted on it; it just went through automatically?
39 A. As I remember it, every crew member received a letter,
40 stating what the options were, and every crew member was
41 given the opportunity to take paid or unpaid breaks. Every
42 crew member had the opportunity to either take that or
43 not. I can remember specific instances of crew members who
44 wanted to remain as they were, and they were allowed to do
45 so. So that would contradict Kate's recollection somewhat.
46
47 Q. You have also said that the pay was increased to 10 pence
48 an hour -- which is what she said as well -- as a result of
49 cutting the unpaid breaks. But it is a fact, is it not,
50 that the following year, when the Wages Council put up the
51 minimum wage, McDonald's stayed at the minimum wage rate;
52 it did not keep 10 pence above it for this supposed
53 compensation for cutting paid breaks?
54 A. I do not remember that specifically. I can remember
55 that we were generally above the minimum wage rate by 10 to
56 15p.
57
58 Q. I think, if you look, you will see it is either exactly the
59 same as the minimum wage rate or 2 pence above it. We have
60 been through that.
