Get a DBS check for a new employee or volunteer

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) runs criminal record checks in England and Wales. Which check you can ask for depends on the role, not on how cautious you want to be. These rules apply to employees and volunteers alike.

Work out which check the role allows

Which check you can ask for depends on the role, not on how cautious you want to be. The DBS guidance lists the roles that qualify for each level as they are written in legislation, not as they are worded in a job description.

Decide whether the role is regulated activity

Regulated activity is work that a barred person must not do. It decides whether you can check the barred lists.

With children (anyone under 18), the following is regulated activity if the person does it on more than 3 days in a 30-day period, or once overnight between 2am and 6am:

• teaching, training, instructing, caring for or supervising children
• giving advice or guidance wholly or mainly to children about their education or wellbeing
• moderating a web service wholly or mainly for children
• driving a vehicle for children

Health care or personal care for children counts even if done once. So does registering as a childminder or foster carer.

With adults (18 and over), there is no frequency test. Doing any of these once is regulated activity:

• providing health care, or health care under the direction of a health care professional
• giving personal care, such as help with eating, washing, dressing or toileting
• providing social work to a client or potential client
• managing an adult's cash, paying their bills or doing their shopping because they need support
• helping with the conduct of an adult's affairs, for example under a power of attorney
• taking adults to or from health care, personal care or social work

Managing or supervising someone day to day in regulated activity also counts.

Before you apply

If you carry out criminal record checks, you must have a written policy on employing ex-offenders and show it to any applicant who asks. You also need a written policy on handling certificate information.

You cannot request a check for a self-employed person or a personal employee who works for you or your family. They request their own and you check the certificate.

If you provide care services for adults, DBS Adult First costs an extra £6 and usually confirms within 2 days whether someone can start work under supervision or must wait for the enhanced check.

Use the result fairly

A conviction is not an automatic reason to reject someone. Use the certificate only for the role it was requested for, in line with your policy on recruiting ex-offenders, and give the applicant the chance to explain anything on it. For a role outside the Exceptions Order, a spent conviction must be treated as if it never happened, and refusing to employ someone because of it is unlawful.

If the applicant disputes something on the certificate, they can raise it with the DBS. You can also appeal after speaking to the applicant.

You must not let someone work in regulated activity from which they are barred. Permitting it when you know or have reason to believe they are barred is an offence carrying up to 5 years in prison. When you are a regulated activity provider and you remove someone from regulated activity, or would have, because they may harm or risk harming a child or vulnerable adult, you must refer them to the DBS.

Recheck and reuse certificates

An applicant for a standard or enhanced check can join the DBS Update Service within 30 days of the certificate being issued. With their permission you can then check online, free and straight away, whether anything has changed. The service does not cover basic checks.

You can accept a certificate issued for an earlier role. Check that its details match the applicant's identity, that its level and workforce (children, adults or other) are right for the role, and, if they use the Update Service, that nothing has changed.

Store and destroy the information

Keep certificate information in lockable storage with access limited to those who need it. Keep it only as long as the recruitment decision, and any dispute or complaint about it, require, usually no longer than 6 months. Then destroy it securely by shredding it or permanently deleting it. Do not keep a photocopy or image. You may record the date of issue, the person's name, the type of certificate, the position, the certificate's reference number and your decision. Passing certificate information to someone not entitled to it is a criminal offence.

Organisations inspected by the Care Quality Commission or Ofsted may be entitled to keep certificates for inspection.

Applicants who have lived abroad

The DBS cannot see criminal records held overseas, so a UK check may not show the whole picture. Ask for a certificate of good conduct from the country concerned, or contact its embassy or High Commission. You still need to verify the identity of an overseas applicant.