Bunbury business owner Samantha Jones fined more than $30,000 for continually employing two uninsured workers

A Bunbury business owner has been ordered to pay more than $30,000 in fines for employing two workers without providing them workplace insurance despite previously being convicted of the same offences two years ago. Samantha Jane Jones was convicted of a number of charges including contravening a requirement made by an inspector, employing uninsured workers and failing to comply with a penalty during a sitting of the Bunbury Magistrates Court on Monday. The court was told that Jones, who did not attend court to answer the charges, owns The Lunch Bar, located on Stuart Street in Bunbury. A WorkCover inspector attended the business in February 2019 and requested Jones to provide wage records of her employees within an advised time period. However, Jones failed to provide the records as requested. A month later, it was found Jones was employing two workers who did not have a workplace insurance policy and in 2020 she was fined a total of $2550 along with costs. State solicitor Clinton Arnold told the court that despite Jones receiving those fines, she continued to offend by not providing wage records to WorkCover inspectors upon request, nor did she provide information of workplace insurance policies for the two employees in question. In submissions, Mr Arnold told the court Jones’ offending and her absence from the court indicated a “persistent and complete disregard” for workplace laws. In sentencing, Magistrate Linda Keane acknowledged Jones’ absence from the court and also noted her persistent offending showed a level of “disrespect of authority”. “Everyone is entitled to know they are covered under insurance should something go wrong and they suffer a workplace injury that puts them out of work for a period of time,” she said. Ms Keane also noted the hefty fines would cause “significant financial hardship” for the business. Along with having to pay a total of $30,500 in fines, Jones was also ordered to pay more than $1500 in an outstanding insurance premium and more than $780 in court costs.