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Most workers and employers are aware that a DBS check involves a criminal records search, and that it is essential for many jobs. These checks are carried out by the Disclosure and Barring Service though, which is a government organisation independent of the police. There are, however, some circumstances in which a DBS check will be looked over by a police officer too.

One of the criticisms of government guidance across the board is that it is too general, and that it’s hard to find guidance which is tailored to individual circumstances. This is especially the case with DBS and disclosure checking guidance, and to be fair to the government, it would be impossible to come up with a set of guidance which takes into account every conceivable set of circumstances. Recently however the DBS has working with a body called Strengthening Faith Institutions (SFI) to create DBS guidance aimed at a range of religious groups.

The current job market is competitive and set to become ever more so as the economy emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic. As the market becomes flooded with more people looking for a job, the inevitable consequence for employers is a deluge of people applying for every position. And from an applicant’s point of view, the temptation to exaggerate experience or tweak qualifications to be the perfect candidate is obvious. Many companies are already carrying out background verification and screening, and this is even more important when you have a large number of applicants. Luckily, there is technology on hand to help make the process a lot easier.

One of the many downsides of the current job market is that the pandemic has created ideal conditions for anyone who is out to scam job seekers. The scams are numerous and will usually involve employers asking for money for a training course, or accreditation, or as an “administration fee”. The mention of paying out money before starting work should always ring alarm bells. However, when it comes to one of the most common scams, asking workers to pay for a DBS or disclosure check, the grain of truth around payment makes it an even cleverer scam.

This year’s Disclosure and Barring Service conference is – unsurprisingly – online. Although there are obvious drawbacks to doing everything online, the benefit of online is that anyone can log on, watch presentations, listen to keynote speakers, and even take place in breakout sessions with other likeminded professionals. The event is aimed at HR and safeguarding professionals but will also be of interest to anyone who is involved in recruitment or in arranging DBS checks for workers. The programme runs across two days, with participants being encouraged to sign up for up to 6 workshops over the two-day conference.

Birmingham City Council’s report into what went wrong with DBS checking for their school transport contractors was released in December 2020 but raises more questions than it answers. Parents are still raising concerns about the city’s whole school transport system, so what exactly has gone wrong, and what is being done to resolve it?

If there’s one industry which has boomed over the last year, it’s environmental health. Businesses across the UK are trying to get to grips with what it means to be “covid secure” and are looking for ways to continue to operate within the lockdown rules in place at any given time. The experts in this field are the nation’s environmental health officers, whose job it is to advise on the rules, and crack down on law breakers. If it’s a field which you’re interested in, what are the requirements for the job?

Many aspects of our everyday life have been enormously disrupted over the last year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Some trials are being pushed back until 2023 or even later, over concerns about having courtrooms packed with jurors, lawyers, and press. For victims of crime, these delays are difficult to deal with. For employers and people applying for jobs though, there are other implications to the backlog in the justice system.

Brexit finally happened at the end of 2020, and the way in which we deal with Europe has changed significantly. One of the main changes from an employer’s point of view is around recruitment, with EU citizens no long having the automatic right to live and work in the United Kingdom. There is lots of information online about Right to Work, but even if someone does have the right to work in the UK, there is another level of checking which might be required. Many positions in the UK need a DBS check, or an inspection of people’s criminal records. British people who want to work outside the UK, or overseas workers who wish to work in the UK, will have to use an alternative path for their criminal records check.

Although your disclosure certificate doesn’t come with an expiry date, most employers will have their own policies about how often they want staff to go through the process again. This time period will depend on the employer and the type of work but is typically anything between three and five years. If you’ve already gone through the process when you initially started work, then you should have a rough idea of what to expect when it comes to renewal. It’s worth taking time to understand what you need to do though, as everything may have changed since the last time you applied for a disclosure check or made a CRB application.