Recent changes to government legislation have meant that the guidelines for DBS ID checking are returning to their pre-pandemic requirements. 

Up until now, because of COVID-19 protective measures, employers have been able to conduct right-to-work checks over a video call and accept scanned documentation, however, from April 6th employers have had to check right-to-work documents face-to-face if they choose to not use an IDSP.

For job applicants based outside of the UK and Ireland who possess a biometric residence permit or residence card, a frontier worker permit or an e-visa could be allowed to provide a ‘share code’ with employers to allow them to conduct a right-to-work check. 

In response, the REC has been lobbying against the government to try and postpone these changes but as a healthcare agency, we wonder what the impact of this legislative change will be if not postponed further.

While this may better allow employers to verify the candidate’s likeness and provide an improved level of authenticity to DBS checks, this significantly complicates the running of agencies that operate across large areas of the UK and Ireland.

Will there be a fall in national agencies that provide staff countrywide if there isn’t a resolution to navigating having to physically check documents? Will this require candidates to travel extensive distances to allow them to be made compliant or will agencies have to open more branches for convenient and realistic candidate access?

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts.