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Are you a trusting type of person who takes everyone at face value? Many of us are, and don’t like to go through life thinking of everyone we meet as a potential scammer or criminal. Employers though can’t take the risk of relying on their gut instinct or first impressions when it comes to taking on new employees.

We all know that there is a huge shortage of drivers at the moment, and anyone with an HGV or even a standard driving licence is in high demand. Although finding a driving vacancy might be straightforward, that doesn’t mean you can walk straight in, pick up the keys and start work right away.

People who want to work in a wide range of occupations might be required by law to have a disclosure check, but there is also a less-detailed check which is open to everyone. Although it doesn’t give as much information as the other levels of checking, there are still lots of reasons why employers, self-employed people and workers might consider a basic DBS check.

We think we’ve come across pretty much every myth there is around DBS checks and certificates. Some of the conspiracy theories around checking are easily debunked, but there are lots of other myths which persist on social media and are not so easy to disprove. Part of the confusion stems from the regular changes in terminology, so you’ll still see people talking about CRB checks when they actually mean DBS checks.

As the UK emerges from the Covid19 pandemic, the way we are all working is changing too. Many workers are yet to return to the office full time, and it’s becoming increasingly common for people to have a couple of part time jobs rather than one full-time job. Not all part time jobs will require the applicant to have a DBS check, but some might, and it’s important to understand the process before sending off your CV.

If you want to work in the UK as a doorman, security guard or in similar security-related occupations, you can’t do this without a SIA licence. The idea behind the licence is to raise professional standards within the industry, ensuring that colleagues, customers, and employers have security staff who are not violent or with a strong criminal past.

If you are in the process of applying for a job with a specific organisation, it can come as a bit of a shock when you’re asked to submit your DBS information through an entirely different company. There are many reasons why this might happen, and it doesn’t automatically mean that your employer is trying to scam you. It could be that they are using a third party “responsible organisation” to help with the administration of checks.

The Home Office has recently announced that pandemic-related measures to allow for remote checking of identities, which should have come to an end in September 2021, has been pushed back to April 2022. With recruitment being problematic in many sectors, and employers struggling to fill vacancies, these measures have been widely praised by business.

Many people assume that the “further education” sector refers to Universities, and other institutions which educate people who are past school leaving age. That however is only partly true. There are thousands of young people who leave school after their GCSEs aged 16 and go to college either to do further academic qualifications, or to study a practical course in something like hairdressing or plumbing.

Pre-pandemic, turnaround times at the DBS checks were improving. The stories of lengthy waits and people losing out on jobs because of their certificates being stuck in the system appeared to be a thing of the past. However, the latest figures appear to show that delays are again becoming commonplace, and the blame is being placed at the door of homeworking.