Newsflash: Enforced criminal record subject access requests illegal

From 10 March it will be illegal for an employer to require job applicants to make a subject access request to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to obtain a copy of their criminal record. Up until now it has been possible for employers to gain access to information on the criminal records of employees, job applicants or contractors, including any spent convictions, which they could not otherwise gain access to by this practice of “enforced subject access request”. This will no longer be possible. However, this will not affect the ability of employers to use the usual DBS system to make standard, enhanced and enhanced against barred lists checks.