You just can’t make it up. Durham County commissioners have given the go-ahead to remove from job applications the question that asks applicants if they’ve ever been convicted of a felony. So now it will be even easier for the following scenario to occur, which clearly leads to wasted time and money.
Director of Human Resources Marqueta Welton said the question has affected a couple of candidates who likely would have been hired but were disqualified because they indicated they hadn’t been convicted. Background checks later showed they had.
So now, it will be even easier for the above scenario to play out. What is to be gained by leaving this question off the box? Offering second chances is one thing, but a felony conviction is an important data point in any hiring process — public or private.
