Managers of a Chorley pub have been each fined £1,200 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £2,620 after failing to buy insurance to protect their employees.
The court heard how Stephen and Karen Martin had employed several people including a manager, a cleaner, a chef and waiting staff at the Hinds Head pub in Charnock Richard, without purchasing Employers' Liability Compulsory Insurance.
As the pair did not buy any insurance, they had no means of paying their employees any compensation in the event of them falling ill or having an accident at work. Despite being warned by Health and Safety Executive inspectors on several occasions between September 2010 and February 2011, the couple failed to address the issue.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE investigating inspector Shellie Bee said, "Employers' Liability Compulsory Insurance is a legal requirement and not an optional extra. Because Stephen and Karen Martin cut corners to save money, they were putting their employees in a position where they could have potentially suffered a life changing illness or injury at work and had no recourse to any kind of compensation. Despite being given ample opportunity to correct this problem over a period of months, they chose to ignore the advice they were given by HSE so we had no choice but to prosecute."
Stephen and Karen Martin, of Ellesmere, Shropshire, were each found guilty of three breaches of the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 by not insuring their employees against injury or disease sustained at work.
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