One of the key requirements of the DBS scheme is for employers and people who organise volunteers to make sure that the people who are presenting themselves and asking for a DBS check to be done are who they say they are. Often this process is confused with the checks which employers do to satisfy themselves that their new worker has the right to work in the UK. It’s not the same thing at all, and although the documents may be similar, workers may have to go through two separate processes.
Right to Work
Everyone who wants to work in the UK must prove that they are legally entitled to do so. This applies to people who have only just arrived from overseas as equally as it applies to people who have lived in the UK all of their lives. Typically, employers will ask to see a passport or national ID card as proof of identity, and as proof of the person’s nationality and therefore their right to be in the UK and employed. There are hefty fines for employers who employ illegal labour so these checks are done on absolutely everyone, irrespective of occupation.
DBS Checks
Not everyone who works requires a DBS check however, as these are limited to people who are working with children, or in settings like hospitals or care homes where they may come into contact with vulnerable adults. Employers will know which positions require DBS checks to be carried out, and often will advertise jobs with phrases such as “subject to successful DBS checking”. The first part of this process is also establishing the identity and residence of the person applying for the job. ID is an essential requirement, and this is where you’ll need your passport or national identity card again. Employers – or whoever is doing your identity check as part of the DBS process – will need to see the original of your passport, not a photocopy or scanned image. If you don’t have a passport, then other documents can be used to establish who you are. These include driving licence, birth certificate, adoption certificate, marriage certificate, or a forces identity card. You will also be asked to prove your current address by showing something like a mortgage statement, P45, credit card bill, utility bill or Benefit statement. Documents must be current – not expired for passports, and within the last three months for utility or credit card bills.
Getting the Checks Done
Once the verifier is satisfied that you are who you say you are, the information you have provided, along with a signed statement from them regarding your identity will be sent off to the Disclosure and Barring Service in England or Wales, Access NI in Northern Ireland or Disclosure Scotland depending on your location. Police checkers will then search the records held about you, and will send out a certificate stating what relevant information is held. This is dependent on the type of certificate required, and the type of offences or cautions you have on your record.
