DBS check is a vital part of the onboarding process of a new employee. Staff members can now apply for a new DBS Certificate within Credentially without distracting from their onboarding. However, this functionality is available only if previously agreed with your employer.
Note: With the help of Credentially, employees can apply for a DBS Check Certificate only if the organisation they are applying for a job to is based in England or Wales. Please also be reminded that you can request a standard or an enhanced DBS check.
There are three cases when you need to apply for a DBS Certificate:
You do not have a Certificate;
Your existing Certificate is not up-to-date;
The Certificate is not the right level, and type for the role applied for.
A staff member can apply for a new DBS certificate within Credentially:
through onboarding step;
directly through their profile.
Let's consider the first option. If an applicant applies for a new DBS when completing the 'DBS check' step of onboarding, they will see the following page:
Here they need to click on 'Apply for a DBS Check Certificate'.
The second option consists of the following steps:
Go to 'My Profile';
Open the 'DBS Check' tab;
Click on the 'Apply for new DBS' button in the 'DBS Application' section:
No matter which way you choose, you will be asked to fill in the DBS Application Form after clicking the' Apply' button. On Credentially, it looks like this:
The main advantage of our Application Form is its user-friendliness. You can decide the order in which you want to fill in the sections. Furthermore, you can save each section separately after completing it. Don't worry if you didn't enter the correct information on the first try. There is an option of editing the incorrect information. The 'Edit' button becomes available after clicking 'Save'. The 'Save' and 'Edit' buttons can be found at the bottom of each section:
Note: If you have completed information in your Profile in the 'Personal Information' tab, the system automatically completes the following subsections in the 'Personal Info' section:
First Name
Last Name
Date of Birth
Email (Populate by the primary address)
Gender
Note: You don't have to complete the application form immediately. You may log out of your Credentially profile and return to the application any moment you want.
I would like to draw special attention to the 'Review Application' section of the DBS Application Form. You need to tick two boxes and click on 'Submit' if you agree with the information provided and it is true.
After it, you will be redirected to the 'Applicant Declaration' window. Here you will be required to confirm the accuracy of the given information by ticking the four boxes and providing an electronic signature.
That's practically it! After submitting the DBS Application Form, your administrator will have to do their part of the work. The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) usually processes your application within about 14 days.
You can also track the status of the application in your Credentially profile:
The 'In Progress' status means that some fields are not completed in your DBS Application form. To complete them, click on the 'Complete' button in the 'Action' field.
If there are uCheck connection issues on our side, the system displays the 'Paused' status for the DBS Application. After the connection is restored, the DBS Application will be sent again manually by our support team, and its status will be updated.
Suppose uCheck doesn't accept the DBS Application because of invalid data, for example, a non-existent Postcode value. In that case, the system will display the 'Error' status, allowing resubmitting the DBS Application.
You will also receive the corresponding notification asking you to correct the mistake in your application. Please find the example of the email below:
When the user clicks on the button in the email or on the 'Resubmit' button in the 'DBS Check' section of their profile, the system highlights the invalid values right on the form. It also changes the DBS Application status to 'In Progress'. The user can update the data and resubmit the DBS Application.
If the status of your DBS Application is 'Submitted', it means that the results are not ready yet.
If you see the 'Completed' status, you need to click the 'View Results' button to look at the simplified DBS Application results.
There are two types of DBS Application results:
Blank (this means the certificate contains no criminal convictions, cautions, warnings or reprimands):
2. Organisation needs to view the Certificate (organisation must view the applicant's certificate before making a recruitment decision):
Usually, you will receive a paper DBS Certificate by post in 2 weeks. Your administrator may view the results of your DBS Application in your employing organisation's uCheck account. They will be able to upload it to the 'Documents' tab of your Credentially profile for you. As a rule, the electronic DBS Application Result is available in 48 hours. However, sometimes the procedure may take up to 2 weeks.