You cannot ask whether the applicant has ever been arrested because an arrest is simply a charge, not a conviction. It has even become risky to ask if a person has ever been convicted of a crime; in many parts of the United States, the box on applications that asks this is being removed, the reason being that most kinds of convictions have no bearing a person's suitability for a job. However, if the job in question involves exposure to drugs or is clearly related to safeguarding money or security, it is permissible to ask about related convictions; for example, an individual with a drug conviction can be denied a position requiring exposure to pharmaceuticals. Explanation