Waiting too long
You've sent your manual DBS check off in the post, but it's been weeks, or even months and you're still waiting.
Application rejection
Your application has been rejected due to human error, and you have to start the process again.
Bad past experience
You haven't carried out DBS checks on past employees, and you've been held liable for an incident.
As an employer, you have a duty of care to protect and safeguard vulnerable people. We all have a part to play.
Make the right decision.
It's essential you fully understand the people you employ, especially if they're working with children or vulnerable adults. There's no excuse. Don't risk liability.
DBS - it stands for The Disclosure and Barring Service and refers to the new agency created from the Criminal Records Bureau (CRD), and the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA). DBS online enables you to quickly and efficiently check the criminal record of a potential or existing employee or volunteer, so you can make informed recruitment decisions.
A standard DBS check searches an applicant's criminal history, so you'll be able to see if an applicant has any spent or unspent convictions, cautions, warnings or reprimands. An enhanced DBS check performs the same as a standard check, also searching children and vulnerable adults 'barred lists', to see if that individual is barred from working with those groups. Enhanced DBS checks also have a section where Police can add any additional information they think is relevant about that person.
Asking an employee who works in regulated activity with children or adults-in-care to undertake a DBS check isn't a legal requirement, but it's a criminal offence to knowingly hire or continue to employ anyone who is listed on the Disclosure and Barring Service’s (DBS) barred lists. To wait for a person to have harmed someone would be an unnecessary lapse in your duty of care.
Online DBS checks are fast and more efficient than manual checks, which often take weeks, or even months to receive, and can be rejected due to inaccuracies. Online DBS checks free up valuable time for your teams to concentrate on other tasks. Check the background of an individual in a matter of seconds using one system, so you can quickly and cost effectively assess applicants, so you can make informed employment decisions.
DBS checks enable you to demonstrate your 'duty of care' as an employer, and help safeguard your organisation from reputational damage. With DBS checks online, you'll be able to show you've supported 'Right to Work' processes, and a robust recruitment process, assisting with you compliance needs.
GBG KnowYourPeople
GBG KnowYourPeople is a leading UK employee identity verification service, giving you the intelligence to confirm recruits are who they say they are.
Discover moreThis year, there have been no delays to the applications at all which is completely down to the GBG service.
We had a large number of Enhanced Disclosures to complete in a short period of time. GBG KnowYourPeople allowed us to efficiently process and track each application through to the DBS; and once complete receive a notification when the Disclosure was completed and whether it contained content or was clear. None of this would have been possible if we were managing the checks on the paper based application forms.
The new GBG KnowYourPeople system has made my life so much easier. I can now complete DBS applications twice as fast which has resulted in a much quicker criminal record checking process. GBG KnowYourPeople is the most responsive and user-friendly system I have ever used.
GBG KnowYourPeople has made the application process a lot simpler for applicants, employers, and the team at Assist HR. One fantastic advantage of the system is our ability to view results, in terms of clear/not clear, before the actual disclosure is dispatched. The system can then also provide us with an official letter confirming the results, which can then be used to speed up the recruitment process.
Get in touch and we'll be happy to help