They sound similar and are often confused, but a DBS check and a right to work check answer completely different questions. Treating one as a substitute for the other is a common — and risky — mistake.
A right to work check confirms that someone is legally allowed to work in the UK. A DBS check confirms information about a person’s criminal record, to help decide whether they are suitable for a particular role. One is about permission to work; the other is about suitability for the work. They are issued by different bodies, follow different rules, and neither replaces the other.
| Right to Work check | DBS check | |
|---|---|---|
| Question it answers | Can this person legally work in the UK? | Is this person suitable for this role (criminal-record check)? |
| Who it applies to | Everyone you employ (widening from 1 Oct 2026) | Only eligible roles (e.g. certain care, health, education, security) |
| Overseen by | Home Office | Disclosure and Barring Service (England & Wales) |
| Levels | One prescribed check (three routes) | Basic, Standard, Enhanced (and with barred-list checks) |
| Legal effect | Correct check = statutory excuse vs civil penalty | Informs a suitability/safeguarding decision |
A person can have an unrestricted right to work and still be unsuitable for a regulated role; equally, a clear DBS certificate says nothing about whether someone is permitted to work in the UK. Because they protect against different risks — illegal working on one side, safeguarding and suitability on the other — you have to treat them separately. Assuming a DBS check “covers” right to work (or vice versa) is how employers end up with a gap in exactly the area they thought was handled.
Everyone you take on needs a right to work check. A DBS check is only for eligible roles — and its level depends on the work. Many roles in care, healthcare, education and childcare need both: a right to work check because they are being employed, and an appropriate DBS check because the role is eligible. Our which DBS check do I need?guide helps you work out the level, and the right to work checks for employersguide covers the work-permission side.
The two checks are run in completely different ways. A right to work check is carried out by the employer (or a provider acting for them) before employment, using one of the three prescribed routes, and the employer keeps the evidence. A DBS check is an application: the individual provides identity documents, the application is submitted through the DBS (often via an umbrella body or responsible organisation), and a certificate is issued to the applicant showing the relevant criminal-record information. One is a check you perform and evidence; the other is a disclosure you apply for and then assess.
They also age differently. A right to work check gives a continuous excuse for people with indefinite status, or a time-limited one that needs a follow-up before permission expires. A DBS certificate has no statutory expiry date — it is a snapshot on the day it was issued — but many organisations re-check periodically as a matter of policy, and the DBS Update Service lets some certificates be kept current and re-used. So one is driven by permission-expiry dates and the other by organisational policy and role requirements — two different renewal clocks to track per worker. See our DBS Update Service guide.
A care worker almost always needs both: a right to work check because they are employed, and an enhanced DBS check (often with a barred-list check) because the role is eligible. A construction labourer needs a right to work check, but usually not a DBS check, as the role is not eligible. A teacher needs both. A volunteer in an eligible role may need a DBS check but, if genuinely unpaid and not “employed”, the right to work position differs — which is exactly why you assess each one separately rather than assuming a rule of thumb.
The consequences differ too. Failing a right to work obligation risks a civil penalty (currently up to £45,000, rising to £60,000 for a repeat breach, per worker) and, in serious cases, criminal liability. Failing on DBS/suitability is primarily a safeguarding failure — putting vulnerable people at risk and breaching sector regulation — with regulatory and reputational consequences. Different risks, different regulators, different evidence — and both need to be right.
Right to work is a UK-wide duty overseen by the Home Office, so the check is the same wherever in the UK the person works. Criminal-record checking, by contrast, is devolved: the DBS covers England and Wales, while Disclosure Scotland and AccessNI provide the equivalent checks in Scotland and Northern Ireland, with their own levels and processes. So for a worker in Scotland or Northern Ireland the right to work check is unchanged, but the “DBS” equivalent comes from a different body — another reason the two checks cannot be treated as one.
If you remember nothing else, use this order for every new starter. First, always carry out a right to work check — it applies to everyone you engage, with no exceptions. Second, ask whether the role is DBS-eligible: most are not, but roles involving regulated activity with children or adults, and certain other positions, are — and if it is eligible, work out the correct level (basic, standard or enhanced, with or without a barred-list check). Third, track both where they apply, on their own renewal clocks. Doing right to work for everyone and DBS only where genuinely eligible keeps you both compliant and fair.
The two checks leave you with different things to keep. A right to work check produces evidence you hold — a dated copy of the documents you examined, or the profile page from the online or digital-identity check — retained for the duration of employment plus two years. A DBS check produces a certificate issued to the applicant; the employer typically records that the certificate was seen, its number, date and outcome, rather than keeping a copy indefinitely, and re-checks according to role and policy. Because the evidence, the owner of it and the retention logic all differ, storing “the worker’s checks” well means handling two distinct record types on one worker — which is exactly what a single worker record is for.
Because eligible workers often need both, the practical job is holding two different kinds of evidence — with different renewal logic — against each worker, and knowing when either is due for review. Complys keeps right to work evidence and DBS records together in the worker record, with expiry reminders, so neither is missed. To be clear about the boundary: Complys keeps the records — it does not perform right to work checks, carry out DBS checks or verify identity; those go through the official routes and providers. See our DBS checks guide and DBS record-keeping.
No. A DBS certificate is about criminal-record suitability and says nothing about immigration permission. You still need a separate right to work check.
No. It only confirms permission to work. For eligible roles you also need the appropriate DBS check to inform a suitability decision.
Right to work must be established before employment begins. DBS timing depends on the role and your recruitment process, but both need to be in order before an eligible worker starts regulated activity.
General information for UK employers, not legal advice. Right to work is overseen by the Home Office; DBS checks by the Disclosure and Barring Service (with Disclosure Scotland and AccessNI covering Scotland and Northern Ireland). Confirm your obligations against current guidance. Reviewed 26 September 2026.
