How do the self-employed get CRB-checked?
The self-employed face a particular problem under the current CRB regime: the Disclosure application form requires the employer and the applicant to be different people, but the self-employed are, by definition, their own employer. So it is difficult for them to fill in the form. Unfortunately, what many of them do – put their own name down as employer and then again as applicant – is not allowed by the CRB and applications that do this will be rejected. Nor can an umbrella body like Criminal Records Checked sign the application as employer. The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 provides that exempted questions can only be asked when assessing the suitability of an individual, by or on behalf of a person in the course of their office in employment. Umbrella bodies cannot, therefore, countersign higher level Disclosure applications at the request of self employed individuals. Umbrella bodies can only sign applications on behalf of organisations entitled to ask
