Simplified Employee Criminal Records Checks For Employers

By Author: John Wajas
Total Articles: 5
Comment this article

Although job advertisements will occasionally state that candidates must hold, or be willing to obtain, a valid CRB check, the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) was replaced by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) on 1 December 2012 and the checks renamed accordingly. This is one of the many changes in the past year which need to be observed by an employer in employment law in England and Wales and companies with low staff turnover who have not recruited anyone since the dissolution of the CRB may be unfamiliar with the new system. Standard and enhanced DBS certificates are now issued in place of the former basic and standard CRB checks and an enhanced DBS search with a barred list check replaced the enhanced CRB check. Certificates are sent directly to the person whose records have been searched and he or she previously had to provide a copy of the DBS check to his or her employer, although recent changes have simplified the procedure for obtaining record checks and these are outlined below.

On 17 June 2013, the DBS launched its new updated service, which shifts the burden of the cost of a DBS check from the employer ...
... to the person named on the certificate, thus saving companies the expense of funding fresh applications for each new prospective employee. For £13 a year, a DBS certificate holder can apply to have their check recorded in a "live" online account which can be freely searched by employers who wish to see the current status of that certificate. This is one of the recent positive developments for an employer in employment law and the financial implications of this change highlight the need to remain up to date with changes within this field.

As with the application for CRB checks, the ability to apply for a DBS certificate status update is restricted to certain organisations and employers will need guidance on whether they are permitted to make such an application. The consent of the person whose file is being searched must be obtained prior to any search and the employer must also be legally entitled to conduct the search. A law firm can advise employees on registering for and using the new service and can also update an employer on employment law changes relating to DBS criminal records checks in general or specific search queries, as well as to wider employment issues in general. For more information visit http://natemplaw.co.uk/employer-employment-law/