Seasonal Christmas Workers: Does Santa Need a DBS Check?

With the festive season in full swing, there’s been an increase in temporary festive staff, with extra team members being brought in to support shop, post office and supermarket workers during this busy time.

But of all the seasonal workers, there is one that excites and draws the crowds more than any other; Father Christmas.

While it might seem standard practice that someone who is in such close contact with children as a department store Santa would need a Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) check , this is not actually the case. CBS has a long history of dealing with the ‘Santa issue’ and have been contacted multiple times by companies wanting to check their Father Christmas with an Enhanced Level DBS check.
 

What is the Law Regarding Santa DBS Checks and Seasonal Staff Screening?

 
CBS are frequently asked to complete DBS checks for Santas by their employers. However, we are not allowed to do so and would be breaking the DBS Code of Practice, not to mention the law if we did.

The confusion regarding the need for a Santa to have a background check seems to stem from a cultural issue, whereby it is incorrectly thought that anyone working with children should be subject to a DBS check.

It should also be noted that the employer is not legally entitled to undertake a DBS check as Santa’s role does not meet the eligibility criteria. Therefore, if an employer were to undertake a DBS Check on their Santa, they would potentially be in breach of legislation.

The law states that Santa would need to meet the ‘frequency and intensity test‘ when working with children; frequency and intensity being defined as someone who sees the same child at least four times a month or has at least one overnight stay with the child in the same time period.

With almost all Santa visits, the parents are present, which reduces, if not removes all risk of a potential breach of safeguarding for children. In addition to this, the typical festive Santa only works a few weeks a year and sees each individual child only once for a minute or two. As such it can be seen that in a DBS check for someone with only passing, one-off access to children isn’t warranted.

Utilising a Common Sense Approach

 
Under the last Labour Home Office, the Vetting and Barring Scheme was introduced. This scheme would have seen Santas become obligated to register to the scheme in order to ensure their suitability to work with children.

This scheme was abolished in 2009 when the Conservatives came into power and took control of the Home Office. The subsequent Conservative initiatives were to apply a more common sense approach to criminal checks and only perform DBS checks to protect the most vulnerable in our society, not to create a culture of guilty until proven innocent.

However, these facts do not placate the general concerns of parents who have seen numerous stories of innocent children being abused by adults in a position of trust. As such many stores will make a DBS check a routine part of the hiring process of any festive workers who come into contact with children, even though the DBS does not require such a check.

How to Keep Children Safe Without Screening Santa

 
If companies follow simple safeguarding rules to ensure child safety in the absence of a DBS check, simply requiring references and having a short informal interview is usually sufficient for the person in question to take on the role.

Given the high media attention child/adult contact is currently receiving, any company that is putting on a Santa’s grotto needs to choose their employee wisely, regardless of if they choose to undertake a DBS check and have policies in place (such as having Santa’s grotto open and public) that will hopefully prevent any potential issues.

If you or your company requires background screening services for other employees, please get in touch with our team.