Security Vetting for Domestic Staff | CloseProtectionHire

In residential security, the threat most likely to materialise is not the intruder who defeats a perimeter. It is the person who was invited in.

Domestic staff – housekeepers, nannies, drivers, private chefs, gardeners, personal assistants – hold a level of access to an HNWI household that exceeds what almost any external threat actor could achieve through intrusion. They know the layout of the property, the location of valuables, the daily schedule of every family member, the security measures in place, and the character of the family’s routine. That information has value, either directly through criminal exploitation or indirectly through social engineering by a third party who cultivates the staff member.

According to data reported to the Home Office in the Crime Survey for England and Wales 2023, a significant proportion of residential burglaries involve advance knowledge of the property – knowledge that in high-value targets frequently traces back to social connections, tradespeople, or household staff rather than external reconnaissance alone.

Pre-employment vetting for domestic staff is not bureaucratic overcaution. It is the foundational security measure for any principal who places significant value on residential security.

What You Are Checking and Why

Effective pre-employment vetting for domestic staff covers four distinct areas.

Identity verification. Confirming that the person in front of you is who they say they are. This means checking photographic ID (passport or biometric residence permit), checking right-to-work documentation as required under the Immigration Act 2014 and UK Visas and Immigration employer guidance, and recording the documents checked. For non-UK nationals with time-limited leave to remain, follow-up right-to-work checks are required at the point of expiry.

Criminal record check. A Basic DBS check through the Disclosure and Barring Service reveals unspent criminal convictions and is accessible to any employer. A Standard DBS check (unspent and spent convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings) requires the employer to use a registered umbrella body and is appropriate for most domestic roles. An Enhanced DBS check – which also includes the barred list check – is reserved for roles involving regulated activity with children or vulnerable adults under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and Childcare Act 2006. Nannies and childcarers with regular unsupervised contact with the principal’s children qualify for the Enhanced check.

Employment and financial history. Verifying what the candidate has told you about where they have worked and when, with particular attention to unexplained gaps. Financially distressed individuals are a specific insider risk category identified by the CPNI (Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure) in its 2024 guidance on insider threat – not because financial difficulty makes someone dishonest, but because it creates a vulnerability to exploitation by third parties who may cultivate a member of staff for their access.

Digital footprint. An open-source review of publicly accessible social media and web presence. This is not about finding reasons to refuse employment; it is about identifying undisclosed connections, content that contradicts the employment application, or patterns of behaviour that are relevant to the role. ICO guidance requires this to be documented and limited to information relevant to the employment decision.

DBS Checks: What They Show and What They Miss

The DBS check system is frequently misunderstood by employers who are not familiar with it.

A Basic check shows only unspent convictions. An individual with a lengthy history of spent criminal convictions for relevant offences – theft, fraud, assault – will not appear on a Basic check. For live-in household staff with unsupervised access to the entire property, a Standard check is the appropriate minimum.

Standard checks are available to any employer through a registered umbrella body (organisations such as Ucheck, GBG, or First Advantage act as umbrella bodies for employers who do not have their own DBS registered body status). The process typically takes three to ten working days and costs the employer a nominal umbrella body processing fee above the DBS fee itself.

Neither a Basic nor a Standard check verifies employment history or identifies individuals with relevant criminal history in other countries. For candidates who have spent significant periods working abroad, an equivalent criminal record check from the country of employment is appropriate. Procedures vary by country, and a background screening company with international capability – Kroll, Control Risks, Sterling International, or similar – can coordinate multi-jurisdiction checks.

The Standard check also will not show intelligence holdings that have not resulted in a conviction. For principals with a significant threat profile, a reputable private sector background screening company using legitimate intelligence-gathering methods provides a materially more comprehensive picture than a DBS check alone.

The Reference Verification Process

Written references are easy to fabricate. The reference from a previous employer should always be followed up by a telephone call to a named individual at that employer – not a general HR line, not an email, and not via a reference exchange platform where the “employer” might be anyone the candidate has asked to act as a reference.

During the telephone call, ask specific questions: Can you confirm the dates of employment? What were their primary responsibilities? Did any concerns arise during their employment? Would you rehire them? How did they interact with children in the household? Were there any incidents involving property, access, or personal items?

Most people giving references are truthful when asked direct questions, even if the written reference was diplomatically worded. The telephone conversation provides information that a written reference rarely does.

Request corroborating documentation: payslips, a P60, or a letter from the employer’s accountant confirming the dates and nature of employment. This is a reasonable request that a genuine employer will be able to fulfil and a fabricated referee will not.

Information Discipline and Security Briefing

Vetting establishes a baseline. Information discipline is the ongoing management of what household staff know and what they do with it.

The security briefing at the start of employment should cover: the social media policy (no photography inside the property, no location tagging, no posts referencing the employer family), the visitor management protocol (how to handle unexpected callers, who may be admitted without prior instruction), the information security policy (what not to discuss outside work – schedule, travel plans, security measures), and the communication protocol (who to contact if something feels wrong or if they are approached by someone asking questions about the family).

The briefing should explain the reason behind each policy, not just state the rule. Staff who understand why they are asked not to discuss the family’s travel schedule are significantly more effective at maintaining that discipline than staff who have been given a list of prohibitions without context.

NDAs for domestic staff are enforceable in respect of genuinely confidential information: the family’s routines, property layout, schedule, security measures, personal relationships, and financial arrangements. Under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA), no NDA can prevent a staff member from disclosing information that constitutes a qualifying disclosure – that is, evidence of criminal conduct or a threat to health or safety. Any NDA clause that purports to do so is void. NDAs should be drafted by an employment solicitor, presented at the start of employment (not as a departure condition), and should be reasonable in scope.

Contractor and Visitor Management

The domestic staff vetting framework covers permanent and long-term staff. A different but equally important protocol covers the regular flow of contractors, tradespeople, and service providers who access the property: cleaners from an agency, maintenance contractors, IT support, delivery drivers.

The CPNI 2024 guidance on insider threat identifies contractors and third-party access as the category most frequently exploited by organised criminal groups seeking access to high-value residential properties. The cleaning agency that supplies three different members of staff across three months has, in effect, introduced three individuals with full property access who have not been vetted by the principal’s household.

For any contractor or service provider with unescorted access to the interior of the property, a minimum of identity verification and a formal record of the visit (time, duration, areas accessed) is appropriate. For regular contractors – monthly garden maintenance, quarterly IT support – a Basic DBS check and employment history verification through the agency are proportionate.

Agency-supplied staff present a specific challenge: the agency’s vetting process may not meet the standard you require. Review the agency’s vetting process before engaging them, not after an incident. Where the agency cannot confirm that their vetting includes a criminal record check and employment verification, either require them to conduct it for your account or use a different agency.

Departure Protocol

The departure of any household staff member is when the household’s physical security is most at risk from that individual. The departure protocol should be standard and consistent, applied whether the departure is on good terms or bad.

All keys must be returned on the final day of employment, with a written record of each key returned and signed by both parties. All electronic access – gate fobs, smart lock codes, garage openers, alarm codes – must be deactivated or changed on the day of departure, not at a convenient later date. If the departing staff member held a key independently and had unsupervised access to the property, a lock change assessment is appropriate; in most cases for live-in staff who held an independent key, changing the locks is the correct response.

The departing employee should be asked to return any property of the household: correspondence, electronic devices provided for work use, uniforms. Any outstanding pay should be settled on or before the final day – a staff member who feels they are owed money has a grievance, and grievances motivate disclosures that an NDA cannot prevent.

A brief exit conversation, conducted professionally and without confrontation, can identify any concerns the departing employee has about their treatment. It also serves to reinforce the confidentiality obligations that survive the end of employment.

For further reading on the broader residential security framework, see our guide to residential security for executives. For the formal security vetting process that applies to security personnel, see our guide to security vetting and background checks.

For private chefs and estate catering staff specifically – the intimate access profile of kitchen roles, food tampering awareness and mitigation, delivery chain security for private kitchens, GDPR Article 9 obligations for dietary and health information shared with catering providers, and event catering access control for temporary staff – see our security for private dining and estate catering guide. For HNWI households navigating contested divorce proceedings – where domestic staff may be used as intelligence sources by PI investigators, access privileges must be adjusted during the proceedings period, and the departures of staff with divided loyalties require specific management – see our security during high-profile divorce proceedings guide.

James Whitfield is a Senior Security Consultant with experience in residential security programmes, personnel security vetting, and HNWI client protection across domestic and international environments.