What are the Disadvantages of disclosure and barring service checks?

Cost

DBS checks cost a lot of money, the government charge £44 for DBS checking paid positions and although they do not charge for volunteer checks, most registered bodies charge an admin fee on top of the government fee.

This cost is either:

• carried by the employing organisation which can mean an immense cost if the organisation recruits a lot (or has a high turnover) of staff/volunteers requiring DBS checks
• passed down to the applicant which can be prohibitive for someone who is out of work or is on a low income.

Lifespan

DBS certificates are only accurate on the day they were issued (the applicant may have gone on a crime spree the day after) and although the DBS online Update Service has improved this somewhat, it can take as long as nine months for the Update Service itself to be updated.

Time

Some organisations do not allow an applicant to begin work without a satisfactory DBS check and although the DBS aim to complete the majority of DBS checks within 14 days, there is no upper time limit which means some unlucky applicants can be out of work for months while waiting for their DBS certificate to come back.

Complexity

The legislation and rules about DBS checks are immense and scattered throughout various legislative acts and mandatory guidance, it is easy to misread certain points or not even know of their existence.

The process of obtaining a DBS check is also complicated, the applicant must apply through the employer, who must apply through a registered body, who must apply through the DBS who must apply through the police, etc.

Portability

DBS checks cannot easily be carried between jobs since there are so many types of checks available, what may have been suitable for one position may not be suitable for another, below are some of the types of checks available:

Standard DBS checks

• Child Workforce
• Adult workforce
• Child and adult workforce
• Other workforce
• No workforce

Enhanced DBS checks

• Child Workforce Child workforce with children's barred list Adult workforce
• Adult workforce with adults' barred list Child and adult workforce Child and adult workforce with children's barred list
• Child and adult workforce with adult's barred list
• Child and adult workforce with children's barred list and adult's barred list
• Other workforce No workforce

And that's not including the difference between volunteer/paid positions as well as whether the applicant is working with vulnerable groups at their home address.

Misuse

Partly due to to the aforementioned complexity issues as well as representation in the media, DBS checks are often misunderstood or misused.

Employers can put too much trust in a DBS check and ignore other aspects of rigorous recruitment, forgetting that a clear DBS check does not mean someone is not a criminal but rather just confirms that they have not been caught.

Some employers will attempt to unlawfully DBS check staff where no eligibility exists, this is not only unfair to the applicants who should be protected by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, but also to other organisations who respect their applicant's legal rights but may then loose out on business as their staff are not checked.