A DBS Check will always show serious offences when conducting a background check. However, a certificate will not show some convictions for several reasons. The following looks at how offences are detailed on a DBS Certificate and instances where results will be filtered.
Standard and Enhanced DBS certificates will include details of convictions and cautions, including youth cautions, reprimands, and warnings held on the Police National Computer (PNC).
Filtering is a term used by DBS to describe a process which will identify and remove convictions and cautions that are no longer required to be disclosed in a DBS certificate because of changes in legislation.
If you are applying for a job or role that involves a standard or enhanced DBS check, cautions and convictions which are filtering out will not be included in the results of your checks.
Whether or not a caution or conviction is filtered by a DBS check will depend on the type and age of the offence.
Suppose the crime was committed when a person is over 18. In that case, the conviction will be filtered after 11 years, and the caution will be filtered after six years, provided that the applicant has not been jailed or committed any other offences and that the crime was not of a violent or sexual nature.
These types of crimes are known as non-specified offences. Specified offences are serious in nature and include abusing or harming another person, sexual assault, murder and terrorism. As such, companies and organisations can be confident that only the right people are being hired for caring, teaching and supervision positions.
What Type of DBS Check Is Needed?
When interviewing a person for a job, it is essential that the business only gains access to information that is relevant to the role. The Disclosure and Barring Service provides three levels of check, which are as follows.
- Basic DBS Check
- Standard DBS Check
- Enhanced DBS Check
A Basic DBS Check is used for many conventional roles and only shows details of unspent convictions. A Standard DBS Check will also include details regarding spent convictions, plus warnings and cautions received.
An Enhanced DBS Check is the highest level of disclosure available and includes details held on the PNC, and it can also include a check of the Adults and Children’s Barred List.
To offer a person a position, it is advisable to await the completed certificate, but there can be instances when this takes as long as 14 days. Fortunately, this does not have to be the case, especially when using a professional agency.
If you want to streamline a business's background screening and benefit from same-day DBS Check results, then why not consider outsourcing your disclosure checking today?
