Care recruitment agency references — legal obligations, CQC compliance, 99p per placement
Care recruitment agencies have legal obligations to reference check candidates before placement under the Conduct of Employment Agencies Regulations 2003 — and CQC-registered hirers expect Regulation 19-compliant evidence. RefAssure delivers written references with safeguarding questions and full audit trail from 99p per reference, no subscription.
Care recruitment agency reference checking — obligations, compliance and evidence
The legal obligation to reference check before care placements
Care recruitment agencies supplying workers to CQC-registered providers operate under two reference checking obligations. The Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 (CEAR) require agencies to take all reasonably practicable steps to obtain references before introducing or supplying a work-seeker. For care roles, where the worker will have contact with vulnerable adults, "reasonably practicable" means written references with safeguarding suitability questions — consistent with the CQC Regulation 19 standard that applies to the hirer.
Agencies that supply workers without completing compliant reference checks are exposing themselves to regulatory risk if that worker subsequently causes harm to a service user. The fact that it was the hirer who was negligent in not obtaining independent references does not remove the agency's obligation to have checked before supply.
What care provider hirers increasingly expect from agency reference evidence
Larger care groups, NHS trusts and framework agreement holders are increasingly auditing their agency suppliers and asking to see evidence of reference checking practices. An agency that can demonstrate a consistent, documented, CQC-compliant reference process — and share PDF evidence for individual candidates — is in a significantly stronger position when competing for preferred supplier status than one that relies on telephone reference notes or verbal assurances.
Care Recruitment Agency References — questions answered
Care recruitment agencies must take all reasonably practicable steps to obtain references before supplying workers under CEAR 2003. For care roles, this means written references covering three years of employment history with safeguarding suitability questions — consistent with CQC Regulation 19 requirements for the hirer.
CQC-registered hirers expect Regulation 19-compliant reference evidence — written references obtained directly from referees, covering three years of history, with explicit safeguarding suitability and disciplinary history questions. RefAssure generates this evidence automatically with a shareable PDF for each candidate.
Yes. Every RefAssure reference generates a professional PDF that can be shared with the care provider hirer as evidence that compliant reference checking has been completed. One document serves both the agency compliance file and the hirer evidence requirement.
From 99p per reference with no monthly subscription, no minimum spend and no per-user fees. Unlimited consultants share one account and credit pool. For high-volume agencies, larger credit packs reduce the cost to as low as 80p per reference.
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Care Recruitment Agency References.
From 99p. No subscription.
Written consent, safeguarding questions, CQC Regulation 19 audit trail. Instant requests, 1–3 day turnaround, unlimited consultants. Pay per placement — not per month.
From 99p per reference · No monthly fees · Credits never expire · UK data hosting