Do Self-Employed People Require DBS Checks?
It’s common knowledge that if you apply for a job working for a company it is likely that the recruitment process will involve you completing a DBS Application. This is especially the case if you are applying for a job working in regulated activity with children or vulnerable adults, such as at a school or in a care home. You would also likely need a DBS check for jobs working in banks, or where you have responsibility for transporting people. If you’re self-employed, and therefore employing yourself, you may assume that it’s unnecessary for you to need a DBS Check, because you know your own past history and criminal record. But DBS Checks even when you are self-employed can be useful to provide evidence that you are trustworthy, to clients or customers.
What Service do you Offer?
Depending on what service you offer in your self-employment may determine whether it is necessary for you to have a DBS Check. If you work from home as a writer or artist, or create jewellery or handmade cards, you are unlikely to require a DBS Check. But clearly there are a vast number of different jobs that you can do self-employed.
If you are a self-employed carer for the elderly, or a self-employed construction worker, if you are working near children or vulnerable adults, then you will need a DBS Check. Some places may also only have people working on contracts for them, who have clear DBS Checks too.
Can I Request a DBS?
As a self-employed person you can request a Basic DBS Check, and the easiest way to do this is online. By doing it online it’s fast and won’t get lost in the post. Should you have any queries about the process, it’s much easier for DBS to respond to these with an online, rather than paper application. As an individual, you are unable to request a Standard or Enhanced DBS Check with Barred List. It is important to carefully fill out the application, giving full address history for the past five years, and not leaving any gaps of information.
If a client you have agreed to complete work for, requires a Standard or Enhanced DBS Check, then it will be necessary for them to request this on your behalf. Between you and the organisation it will be necessary to decide who will pay for the DBS Check.
A Standard or Enhanced DBS Check is more thorough and in-depth, showing spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands, warnings, information that the local police hold on you that is relevant to the job, and if you appear on any Barred Lists.
Take Precautions to Protect Yourself
If you are self employed and therefore unable to request a Standard or Enhanced DBS Check but know you will be working with children or vulnerable people, perhaps for instance, if you were a children’s entertainer. You can request a Basic DBS Check. But another thing you can do, is to take sensible precautions to ensure that you are never alone with children or vulnerable adults, that there are always other adults there to ensure safety and safeguarding. This will protect you from any allegations.
