DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES AS AN EMPLOYER
You must have the legal right to ask someone to undergo a DBS check. The following link gives guidance:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dbs-eligibility-guidance
A member of your staff must identify the applicant in accordance with DBS requirements. The following link gives details:
In particular, whoever identifies the applicant must:
Take hold of ORIGINAL documents
Check that they do not appear to have been tampered with
Take photocopies from the originals
Sign and date the photocopies
Check that photographs match the person
Check that the applicant can emulate any signatures on the documents
You need to be aware of the risk of fraud, which could lead to:
the issue of a ‘clear’ result on someone who actually has convictions or
a breach of Section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 (illegal working).
Please read Checking for Fraud. It can be downloaded to your desktop.
As an employer, for many years you have been obliged to check that employees have the right to work in the UK. The documents provided by the applicant for the DBS check must include evidence of the right to work in the UK.
You send the application to us with the photocopies, a Return Slip and a privacy declaration. N.B the declaration must be sent in paper format. The DBS will not accept an electronic version.
Consequences of Wrongly Requesting a Check of the Barred Lists
Ineligible Barred List checks can result in legal challenges to any organisation that makes the request, as this could result in their being in receipt of barring information that they are not legally entitled to.