How and when were they fined? It sounds like there's a detail missing as I've never heard of anyone being fined for not reporting a change in phone number or employment.
I applied for FLR with no job. I started working (without reporting it to the Home Office) and a few years later applied for ILR. In my ILR application I included all my employment info (which didn't exist at my FLR appointment and hadn't been reported to them) and they didn't say anything.
As geeta said, changes only need to be reported if they affect your BRP. Address, name, gender, nationality, facial appearance and date of birth (if it was incorrect) need to be reported. If they're not reported within 3 months, then they can be fined up to £1,000.