Twenty Questions about Employment Testing Bias and Unfairness in Spain

doi:10.1017/9781009448949.020

Chapter 20 - Twenty Questions about Employment Testing Bias and Unfairness in Spain

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 November 2025

Jesús F. Salgado ,

Silvia Moscoso and

Pamela Alonso

Edited by

Winfred Arthur, Jr. ,

Dennis Doverspike and

Benjamin D. Schulte

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Winfred Arthur, Jr.: Affiliation:
Texas A & M University
Dennis Doverspike: Affiliation:
George Mason University
Benjamin D. Schulte: Affiliation:
Texas A & M University

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Summary

This chapter presents the answers to the twenty questions on employment bias and fairness in Spain. It describes the national demographic and administrative-political characteristics. In Spain, bias is associated with the notions of equality and non-discrimination, and it is regulated by both Spanish laws and EU regulations. The chapter describes (a) which groups are protected by the law, (b) which are the main regulatory authorities (general and sectorial laws, and EU regulations), (c) which employers are covered, (d) the guidelines used in Spain to guide professional activity, (e) the nine categories of discriminatory actions and situations distinguished in Spain, (f) the 60 percent or three-fifths rule of disparate impact, (g) the burden of proof in the Spanish law, (h) the use of quotas and score adjustment for the categories of age, sex, and disabilities, and (i) issues about the legal consequences of violating the laws, the type of questions that must be excluded from selection procedures, and the statistical tools used to examine bias. It closes with an overview of recent laws affecting the use of artificial intelligence technologies and how the legal environment impacts the practice of industrial, work, and organizational psychology.

Keywords

Spain discriminatory actions and situations 60% rule of disparate impact quotas and score adjustment artificial intelligence and machine learning and the law

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Type: Chapter
Information: Global Perspectives on the Definition, Assessment, and Reduction of Bias and Unfairness in Employment Testing , pp. 405 - 426

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009448949.020 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2025

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