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As of April 2023, the NHS issued new guidance to recruiter about how they should be verifying the identity of people wishing to join the organisation. As the NHS employs 1.4 million people in England alone, many of us will work there at some point in our careers or know someone who will. The idea behind the new NHS identity checking standard is to tighten up processes across the organisation, and make sure that the same process is being followed for each and every volunteer and employee across this enormous organisation.

The Home Office has recently announced that Fire and Rescue Services in England and Wales will be allowed to carry out Standard DBS checks on all employees. At present, many workers for the Fire Service only have basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks. Presently, basic DBS checks show unspent cautions and convictions for an applicant only, while standard DBS checks provide a more comprehensive history about someone’s criminal past by including sent convictions, cautions, reprimands, and final warnings.

The idea of “cyber vetting,” which involves assessing job candidates based on their online behaviour, has become increasingly common. However, a recent study conducted by North Carolina State University highlights the potential for bias in the hiring process as a result of this practice. Researchers reveal that cyber vetting, which often involves scrutinising candidates’ social media accounts and online presence, can lead to unfair moral judgments.

Pre-Employment checks are becoming increasingly common in the UK jobs market. Employers want to spend a bit of time and money looking into the backgrounds of the people who they are thinking of employing, as an attempt to guard against damage to the business from a rogue employee, or someone with a long criminal record in fraud. One of the most common parts of the recruitment process is the use of DBS Checks, also known criminal records screening. These checks serve as a tool for potential employers to look at whether someone has a criminal record, an assess the relevance of an individual’s convictions to the job role in question.

In the increasingly competitive jobs market, background checks have expanded their role from being primarily associated with positions involving children to encompass a much larger range of positions. Google searches for terms like “best background check” is up by 100% since last year, and “best background check site” searches have risen by 200%, underscoring the heightened interest across diverse employment sectors. If you’re in the market for a new job, the level and type of checking will in large part depend on the job you are applying to. Here are some of the most common background checks which are requested through organisations such as Clear Check, and the types of jobs where you might expect to come across them.

Work experience and placements are an essential aspect of many college and university courses. Students on apprenticeship or “sandwich” courses will take a few days a week or a month at a time out of education to gain real-life work experience, and others will search for work related to their course during holidays from their study. Universities can often be a good source of information about how to get a DBS check, or will work with partner organisations such as Clear Check to process applications.

School terms are wrapping up all over England and Wales, and many governors will be thinking about stepping down and letting someone else take over the responsibility. School governors have an important role to fulfil in overseeing the management of the school by setting policy and dealing with issues such as recruitment and complaints. If you’re considering getting involved, here’s what you need to know about DBS checks for school governors.

Understandably, the depth of security vetting needed for a working in government positions is higher than for many other similar positions. Job advertisements for positions working in central government or related departments will usually state what sort of screening is needed. There are four main levels of security clearance for government jobs.

Most of us hadn’t heard of RAAC a few months ago. RAAC is a type of cheap, lightweight concrete which was widely used in the construction of public buildings like schools, hospitals, or student accommodation. Over time, the concrete degrades and in serious cases, can cause buildings to collapse. The Department for Education (DfE) is currently conducting hundreds of structural surveys each week to identify schools with potentially unsafe concrete structures in England, with similar action being taken in other parts of the UK.

We are all living in an increasingly global society, and there are numerous occasions where paperwork from one country must be presented in another. This could be an academic transcript from a British university for a job overseas, or a will written overseas which is required by a British bank to release funds to a family member. Both attestation and apostille are legal methods for verifying the authenticity of documents in one country for use in another.