However, PERA announced at the end of June that it was implementing a new rule requiring all substitute teachers to be considered “employees of the PERA affiliated employer,” a significant shift from previous policies that classified substitute teachers “depending on the particular facts of the case,” according to Tagg.
Tagg claimed that certain schools would not renew their agreements with the platform, which helps them find substitute teachers, and that prospective clients lost interest in working with the company after the rule was announced.
Tagg argued that the rule violates the state Administrative Procedure Act because it is legislative in nature but did not follow the statutory rulemaking process. Additionally, Tagg contended that the rule conflicts with the Colorado Employment Security Act because it circumvents a test established by the state Supreme Court that considers the overall circumstances of the relationship between an individual and an entity to determine worker classification.
