Summary and implications
Many employees, volunteers and other workers are subject to a criminal records check, e.g. because they carry out regulated financial activities, or because they work with young people or vulnerable adults. This alert summarises two important and very recent developments that employers and other recruiting organisations should know about.
- With effect from 29 May, you cannot require disclosure of, and make recruitment and dismissal decisions based on, a limited category of offences, which resulted in:
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- "protected convictions": where a conviction was for an offence that was not a violent or sexual offence, has not resulted in a prison sentence, the individual has not been convicted of any other offence and the conviction is at least 11 years old (if received by an adult); or
- "protected cautions": where the caution was for an offence that was not a violent or sexual offence and is at least six years old (if received by an adult).
These types of convictions and cautions are therefore very limited. For more information, please speak to your usual Nabarro contact.
- You can ask staff to sign up for the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) update service for carrying out a criminal records check (from 17 June 2013). This will enable you to carry out regular, up to date and free-of-charge online checks of the criminal record of subscribed individuals. But, you must always obtain individuals' written consent before carrying out the checks. Individuals will have to pay a subscription fee, which many organisations expect to refund or pay on their behalf (currently £13 per individual). The update service will begin to operate on 17 June 2013.
- Keep an eye out for income tax reliefs where you either pay or reimburse employees for the cost of subscribing to the DBS update service. The Government is set to introduce legislation to provide income tax relief in such cases.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
