Criminal record checks for employment

• Practical information & advice
• Read personal stories
• Discuss this with others
• Help us with our policy work on this

Practical information & advice

Read our latest news posts about criminal record checks for employment

Information

Here you’ll find links to various parts of this site where we have information and useful resources relating to criminal record checks for employment.

As an applicant for a job, your potential employer is allowed to ask you to do a criminal record check before they employ you. However, under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) an employer must have a lawful basis for carrying out a criminal record check and processing data relating to criminal convictions. What type of check they can do will depend on the job, and this will dictate what you will need to disclose. Useful links include:

• GDPR and data protection – Guidance for individuals
• Types of criminal record check

There are three main types of check – basic, standard and enhanced. However, if you are working overseas or require government security vetting, other types of checks will be done. Useful links include:

• Types of criminal record check
• Basic DBS disclosures
• Standard disclosure
• Enhanced disclosure
• DBS Adult First Check 
• International Child Protection Certificate (for working overseas)

It’s possible to apply for your own basic DBS check but not a standard or enhanced. You’d need to apply for these through an Umbrella Body.

• Step-by-step guide to applying for a basic DBS check

Employers will often ask applicants to disclose in a certain way. If they don’t, then you should disclose in the way that you feel most comfortable with. Useful links include:

• Disclosing to employers [Information section]
• ‘Do I need to disclose my criminal record?’ online tool

A basic DBS disclosure will only show unspent convictions. Useful links include:

• Basic DBS disclosures
• What will be disclosed on a basic DBS check?

All cautions and convictions will be shown on a standard/enhanced check unless they are eligible for filtering. An enhanced check may also disclose any additional information held locally by the police (for example arrests and allegations). Useful links include:

• Filtering of spent cautions/convictions – Simple guide
• Filtering of spent cautions/convictions – Detailed guide
• DBS list of offences that can never be filtered [Excel document]
• List of offences that have been filtered [Excel document]
• Filtering FAQ’s
• Disclosure of police intelligence on enhanced checks (approved information)

We have a list of job roles which sets out the likely level of check that would be required. Useful links include:

• Eligibility for standard and enhanced checks
• A-Z of job roles and their eligibility for basic, standard and enhanced criminal record checks

It will depend on whether your job involves activities which place somebody in a vulnerable position and, how often these activities are performed. There is a useful link below.

• Eligibility for standard and enhanced checks 

If you were not told that you were barred or that barring was being considered at the time of your caution/conviction, then you should contact the Disclosure and Barring Service. Useful links include:

• Barring
• DBS Barring – Representations, reviews and appeals

We have produced a simple to use flow chart which will give you a good idea whether a job/role is eligible for a standard/enhanced check. Useful links include:

• Establishing what level of check an employer can carry out
• Ineligible checks 

You should agree to the check but immediately raise an eligibility query with the DBS. There is a useful link below.

• Challenging an ineligible DBS check

You need to set out clearly the reasons why you believe the check is ineligible. We have templates which you can use to write your own email.

• Templates to challenge an ineligible DBS check 

There are very strict data protection guidelines which set out what an employer should do with a certificate one they receive it. There is a useful link below.

• How employers should handle certificate information

We’ve produced an overview of the DBS and other information regarding the checks they are responsible for. Useful links include:

• Disclosure and Barring Service – An overview
• DBS Update Service and One Certificate
• Completing a criminal record check application
• Getting a copy of your DBS records
• Unlocking Criminal Record Checks – A guide for people with a criminal record [PDF]

Advice

Here you’ll find some of the common advice that we give on criminal record checks for employment. This is based on what we’ve learnt as a charity, as well as the real-life experiences of people with convictions.

• If you’re applying for a job and are being asked to do a standard or enhanced check, the onus should be on the employer to establish what makes the role eligible (with reference back to the legislation if necessary). The way the legislation is structured means that all positions are eligible for a basic DBS check. Only if the role meets certain requirements does it mean that it’s eligible for a standard or enhanced check.
• If you don’t think the employer is entitled to a standard or enhanced check, it’s normally only worth challenging this if you have spent convictions. If all your convictions are unspent, even if you are successful in your challenge, the employer will be entitled to require a basic check.
• If an employer insists on doing a standard or enhanced check, and you have tried (or don’t feel able) to challenge them, you should consent to the check and then raise a query with the DBS through their eligibility query process.
• If you’ve got police intelligence held about you, and you’re applying for an enhanced check, you shouldn’t disclose it unless you have reason to believe that it will be disclosed by the police (e.g. it’s particularly relevant to the role, or it’s been disclosed in the past in similar situations). Once the enhanced check is returned to you, you will then know whether the police have decided to disclose it, and you can then make a decision as to whether to either (a) seek a review of the police force’s decision, or (b) disclose this information to the employer.

Frequently asked questions

Here you’ll find some specific questions that we regularly get about criminal record checks for employment and the answers we generally provide.  More detailed FAQ’s may be included in the information pages above.

We have also published a specific page with FAQ’s about the DBS filtering process.

Useful links

Here you’ll find links to useful organisations and websites related to criminal record checks for employment that we refer to in our information and advice. Contact details for the organisations listed below can be found here.

• ACRO Criminal Records Office
• Disclosure & Barring Service

Read personal stories

The personal stories below have been posted on theRecord, our online magazine.

Discuss this with others

Read and share your experiences of this on our online forum.

Key sections include:

• Types of criminal record checks – Different types of criminal record checks
• How the DBS works – Standard and enhanced checks and police intelligence
• Eligibility for DBS checks – Establishing eligibility
• DBS filtering – Criteria for filtering
• Security vetting – What does security vetting involve

Help us with our policy work on this

Read more about the policy work we’re doing on:

• Challenging the DBS filtering process
• Improving how the DBS works for people with criminal records 
• Stopping unlawful/ineligible DBS checks