Did you receive a ‘long-term care’ email from your employer? Here’s what it means to opt-in or opt-out
June 14, 2021 at 5:01 pm
They arrived over the past month in the inboxes of Microsoft coders, Amazon copy editors, and Boeing engineers along with tens of thousands of other employees across Washington state: Emails from payroll departments or human resources telling staffers that they might have the option to opt-out of a new state payroll tax to fund long-term care.
To which many employees responded: “What in the world…?”
The reason for the email is a somewhat forgotten tax and program approved by the state legislature three years ago: The Washington Long-term Services and Supports Trust Act (LTSS). This year, the Act takes effect and includes a tax paid by employees unless those workers get an approved long-term care plan elsewhere.