DBS Checks for Au Pairs

There is no official count of the number of au pairs in the UK. Estimates put the figure at around 100,000, with 75% of them working in London and the South-East. Employing an au pair is a sensible move for many working families. Au pairs look after children before school, and between school finishing and parents returning home. They might also do some light housework, or make meals. The children benefit from having a foreign language speaker in the house, and exposure to a different culture. In return, the au pair gets accommodation and food, and time free during the day to study, or pursue their own interests. It's an idea which works perfectly for many. However, one of the main difficulties is getting a good au pair, and knowing…
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Are charities carrying out unnecessary CRB checks?

It's been just over a year since a scandal hit the press concerning people working for some of the UK's best-known charities. Charities both large and small have been reassessing their processes and procedures. Many have started running CRB checks on more people than they did before. However, does a recent report suggest that they've gone a bit far in their checking? CRB Checks and Charities Charities are subject to exactly the same rules about CRB checking as every other business. Charities can't make up their own minds about who should have disclosure checks and who shouldn't. Many of the allegations made about charity workers concerned incidents which didn't take place in the UK. The people involved weren't UK nationals. Therefore, charities couldn't have run CRB checks or disclosure checks…
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CRB, DBS Checks and Mental Health History

We're all a lot more aware of mental health issues than even a few years ago. According to leading mental health charity Mind, 1 in every 4 of us will experience some sort of mental health problem every year. In many cases these are minor blips, which we recover from quickly. Sometimes though, people are so seriously ill that they require treatment in hospital. Despite progress in understanding mental health issues there is still some degree of stigma to admitting you've suffered mental health problems. If you're applying for a job which requires DBS checks, how much is going to be disclosed on your form? What's Shown on DBS Checks DBS checks are the same thing as CRB checks. CRB is an outdated term as the Disclosure and Barring Service…
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