As an employer you have the right to ask people about their criminal record and to request a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check if you feel it is necessary for the role you are recruiting to. A standard DBS will tell you about any unspent convictions on people’s criminal record. An enhanced DBS could tell you about spent offences too. The type of role you are recruiting for will affect the kind of DBS you can apply for.
This will depend on the nature of the role that you are recruiting for. It is important to make sure that you are completely clear on the type of check you are entitled to request before you advertise the position.
| Eligibility | All employers are entitled to ask and know about any unspent convictions an applicant may have. All employers are therefore entitled to request an applicant to apply for/provide a basic check, which will disclose details of unspent convictions. |
| Posts | Any (paid or voluntary) |
| Application process | An individual in England and Wales can apply for a basic check directly through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). Alternatively, the organisation and individual is applying to can request a check on behalf of the individual, with their consent. Access Northern Ireland process basic checks on behalf of individuals and organisations based in Northern Ireland. |
| Costs | £18 through DBS and Disclosure Scotland (plus administrative costs if applied for via an intermediary). £26 through Access Northern Ireland. |
| Eligibility | If you are recruiting for a position that is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, you are entitled to ask applicants to apply for a standard DBS check, which will provide details of spent and unspent convictions, cautions, final warnings and reprimands that are not protected (i.e. eligible for filtering). |
| Posts (including but not limited to) | Accountants, barristers, Financial Conduct Authority approved persons, members of the Master Locksmiths Association, Security Industry Authority licence holders, solicitors, traffic wardens. |
| Application process | The employer may register with the DBS or use an umbrella body to submit the application to the DBS. |
| Costs | £18 |
| Eligibility | If you are recruiting for a position that is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and is included in the Police Act 1997, you are entitled to ask applicants to apply for an enhanced DBS check. This will provide details of spent and unspent convictions, cautions, final warnings and reprimands that are not protected (i.e. eligible for filtering). The police may also include any other information they feel may be relevant to the application. |
| Posts (including but not limited to) | Roles including work with children (as defined by regulation 5C of the Police Act 1997) and work with adults (as defined by regulation 5B of the Police Act 1997). |
| Application process | The employer may register with the DBS or use an umbrella body to submit the application to the DBS. |
| Costs | £38 |
| Eligibility | If you are recruiting for a role that is defined as regulated activity with children or adults under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (as amended) you are legally obliged to check the applicant’s barred list status and may ask them to apply for an enhanced and barred DBS check. |
| Posts (including but not limited to) | Teachers, registered health care professionals, social workers, carers. |
| Application process | The employer may register with the DBS or use an umbrella body to submit the application to the DBS. |
| Costs | £38 |
| Information that may be included | Basic DBS check | Standard DBS check | Enhanced DBS check | Enhanced and barred DBS check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unspent convictions | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Spent convictions (that are not protected) | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cautions (that are not protected) | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Police intelligence | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Inclusion on the children’s barred list (where requested) | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Inclusion on the adults’ barred list (where requested) | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
Protected cautions and convictions are those that are eligible to be filtered from standard and enhanced DBS certificates.
Previously, if a role was exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, an employer was entitled to know about an applicant’s full criminal record history. However, on 29 May 2013, changes were made to legislation that allowed for certain minor offences to be removed or filtered from standard or enhanced DBS certificates. The filtering rules changed again on the 28 November 2020, and further changes were made on 28th October 2023 to align with self-disclosure rules under the ROA Exceptions Order 1975 (as amended in 2020).
Cautions or convictions that are eligible to be filtered are known as ‘protected’.
Criminal record information that might be disclosed on a certificate is very limited. Where a caution or conviction is disclosed, you will often be given details only of the date of caution or conviction, the offence category and the sentence or disposal. Trying to understand and interpret this information requires a certain level of understanding of the criminal justice system and related terminology, which can often be a problem for employers.
If you would like advice on any information that has been disclosed on a criminal record certificate, please contact Nacro’s Employer Advice Service on 0845 600 3194 or employeradvice@nacro.org.uk.
The best way to find out about the circumstances of offences or other information which may have been disclosed on a DBS check is to ask the applicant.
Under the Police Act 1997, the police have a legal obligation to provide the DBS with access to information held on the Police National Computer. The DBS has a duty to disclose that information on standard and enhanced DBS checks. If you have concerns about the information that has been disclosed by the DBS, or if it is not as you expected, you should discuss your concerns with the applicant/employee and carry out a risk assessment.
If there is a serious public protection issue, the police have the means to disclose such information to employers both with and without the involvement of the DBS. During an enhanced DBS check application, the police have an opportunity to disclose any other information that is deemed relevant to the role applied for.
Additionally, the police may disclose information to you (employers or regulatory bodies) outside of the DBS process in order to safeguard, or protect from harm, an individual, group of individuals or society at large. This will apply in a minority of cases: further details of the Common Law Police Disclosure scheme can be found here.
Nacro supports Business in the Community’s Ban the Box campaign, calling on employers to remove the criminal convictions tick box from application forms, and ask about offences later in the recruitment process.
Ban the Box employers publicly commit to fairly assessing criminal convictions; judging candidates first and foremost on the basis of their skills and suitability for a role, rather than their past mistakes.
Speak privately with a specialist on 0300 123 1999 or email helpline@nacro.org.uk. Lines are open Monday - Thursday: 9am - 5pm and Friday: 1pm - 5pm.
