Support a Veteran in launching a civilian career
King County’s Vets 4 HIRE program, which launched in 2015 and receives funding annually from the Veterans, Seniors and Human Services Levy (VSHSL), provides six-month or longer on-the-job training experiences to help current and former military service members with their transition to civilian employment, and funding is available to support departments in recruiting veterans to their teams.
Participating King County agencies provide their program participants with part-time or full-time, practical experiences in a variety of fields to help them become more competitive for King County and other civilian jobs. The VSHSL will reimburse agencies half of the participant’s first six months of wages up to a maximum of $7,800.
So far, 12 county agencies have provided experiences for 83 military service members since 2015, in positions as diverse as human resources, parks maintenance, IT security, civil engineering, and more. Of these 83 participants, almost 85% reported a positive outcome, and almost 40% obtained regular positions with King County after their participation in the program. The remainder either went on to school or secured employment at other organizations.
Veterans bring unique skills, ideas, and perspectives to the workplace that are extremely valuable to organizations. If your department has a body of work that can help support a veteran in obtaining their civilian career goals, please consider creating an on-the-job Vets 4 HIRE opportunity. The Levy provides funding to support 16 positions each year. There are still 2021 funds available and there is a current candidate pool established to help simplify your hiring process.
To learn more about the program please contact your department Human Resources or Vets 4 HIRE Program Manager Susan Navetski at susan.navetski@kingcounty.gov.
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How to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment
All Washington residents age 16 and up are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, so how do you go about scheduling an appointment?
There are several ways you can make an appointment for the vaccine:
- Go to vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov to search for COVID-19 vaccine appointments near you by zip code.
- WA COVID Vaccine Finder covidwa.com is a volunteer-driven effort to help Washingtonians find appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine
- Call your doctor’s office or health care provider to see if they have available vaccination appointments.
- Whether you’re a Kaiser Permanente member or not, King County employees can follow these steps to get a COVID-19 vaccine with Kaiser Permanente.
- For language interpretation, call the Washington state COVID-19 Assistance Hotline: Dial 1-800-525-0127 or 1-888-856-5816, then press #. Available Monday 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Tuesday to Sunday and observed state holidays 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. For language interpretation, state your preferred language when you are connected. Phone support is also available from the Public Health COVID-19 Call Center at 206-477-3977, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- If you live in South or East King County, check out additional options at kingcounty.gov/vaccine for the Kent, Auburn, and Redmond vaccination partnership sites.
- Sign up for the City of Seattle’s vaccination appointment notification list to be notified when appointments become available at any of the four city-affiliated vaccination clinics. You can also call 206-684-2489 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. from Monday through Saturday for sign-up assistance. The sites are Lumen Field Event Center (330 South Royal Brougham Way), North Seattle College Community Vaccination Hub (9600 College Way North), Rainier Beach Community Vaccination Hub, 8702 Seward Park Ave. S., and West Seattle Community Vaccination Hub (2801 S.W. Thistle St).
Making an appointment may be difficult in the short-term while we continue to experience some challenges with vaccine supply, but we do expect the supply to increase in the coming weeks, so please continue to check all options for appointments.
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Notice of King County Personnel Board Candidate Filing and Election
King County Elections will hold a candidate filing period for the elected member position on the King County Personnel Board. The candidate filing period will begin on Monday, May 3 at 8:30 a.m. and will end at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, May 7. There is a $5 non-refundable filing fee. Visit kingcounty.gov/elections/personnel-board for more information.
The Personnel Board conducts hearings on appeals of certain personnel actions as provided for in Section 540 of the King County Charter.
The Personnel Board consists of five members, four of whom are appointed, and one member elected by county career service employees. The elected term is for a 5-year term.
The county charter requires the elected member of the Personnel Board to be a resident of the state of Washington and not currently employed by King County.
A primary will be held on Tuesday, June 1 to determine the final nominees up for election on Tuesday, June 22. The primary and election will be conducted through the mail. If any candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary, they will be deemed elected and no further election will be conducted. Only career service county employees are eligible to cast ballots.
For more information on filing for office, contact King County Elections at 206-296-1565 or election.services@kingcounty.gov.
For more information on the position, please contact the Personnel Board at 206-477-3400 or PersonnelBoard@kingcounty.gov.
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April is National Records and Information Management Month
As King County employees, we have the responsibility of managing our records all year long. So what makes April so special?
“Records Management Month is the time we set aside to celebrate and recognize the important and valuable work that we all do as records managers!” County Records Analyst Lisa Mankin said. “Whether you’re a department director, an administrative specialist, or an inspector in the field, we are all records managers.”
The records employees create and receive are valuable assets.
“The Records Management Program is always happy to use the month of April to recognize the work that we do every day to organize and preserve our records, especially when we do it as part of our standard work processes.”
Follow these tips to help improve your records management best practices:
- Take the 15 minute “Basic Records Management Training” in KC eLearning.
- Delete transitory emails that don’t document your work.
- Create good records by using meaningful email subject lines and consistent file naming conventions.
- Include instructions for managing records as a part of user manuals of standard work.
- Contact records.management@kingcounty.gov if you have questions about how to manage your records.
Get more records management tips and resources.
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COVID-19 vaccines: Providing reassurance to communities
This is an excerpt of an article in the Public Health Insider. Read the full article here.
Many community organizations worked to reassure people who feared the vaccines were unsafe, even though they have been extensively tested. Online misinformation about vaccine safety has been rampant.
Reaching people with such concerns requires trust, said Janice Deguchi, executive director of Neighborhood House, which supports immigrants and refugees, many of whom speak limited English.
“Our staff speaks over 45 languages,” Deguchi said. “As a trusted messenger, we can combat rumors with accurate information.”
The Ethiopian Community in Seattle has hosted three community clinic events, providing vaccines to over 600 people. “People are grateful for the opportunity and the support they received in a place that speaks their language and answers their questions,” said Tsega Desta, a program manager for the organization.
“Through the workshops we provided in Amharic about the safety of the vaccines, we were able to convince the older generation and demystify any myths they have. As a result, they came to be vaccinated in numbers,” Desta reflected.
Close community ties are the key to successful outreach, agreed Dr. Anisa Ibrahim of the Somali Health Board of King County.
“Trust is the keystone to strong relationships, and it is earned,” Dr. Ibrahim said.
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Vaccine eligibility open to all residents ages 16 and over
from Whitney Abrams, Chief People Officer
Starting Thursday, April 15, all Washington residents age 16 and up are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. This is great news and an important step in ending this pandemic.
Vaccine remains the best tool we have against COVID-19. Already half of King County residents ages 16 and older have received at least one dose and more than 30% are fully vaccinated. This is in part due to the crucial role played by a wide array of community and faith-based organizations who delivered those vaccines and the exceptional work of our public health professionals, partners, and volunteers.
Yet COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are rising rapidly in King County, especially within the younger adult populations, raising the possibility of a damaging fourth wave. We can’t predict how big this surge will be, how long it will last, or exactly how much harm it will cause.
That is why it is so important that we get vaccinated. With this opening of eligibility there will continue to be challenges with vaccine supply in the short-term, but we do expect the supply to increase in the coming weeks.
Finding an appointment initially may be difficult, but please remember that there are several ways you can make an appointment for the vaccine:
- Go to vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov to search for COVID-19 vaccine appointments near you by zip code.
- WA COVID Vaccine Finder covidwa.com is a volunteer-driven effort to help Washingtonians find appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine
- Call your doctor’s office or health care provider to see if they have available vaccination appointments.
- Whether you’re a Kaiser Permanente member or not, King County employees can follow these steps to get a COVID-19 vaccine with Kaiser Permanente.
- For language interpretation, call the Washington state COVID-19 Assistance Hotline: Dial 1-800-525-0127 or 1-888-856-5816, then press #. Available Monday 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Tuesday to Sunday and observed state holidays 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. For language interpretation, state your preferred language when you are connected. Phone support is also available from the Public Health COVID-19 Call Center at 206-477-3977, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- If you live in South or East King County, check out additional options at kingcounty.gov/vaccine for the Kent, Auburn, and Redmond vaccination partnership sites.
- Sign up for the City of Seattle’s vaccination appointment notification list to be notified when appointments become available at any of the four city-affiliated vaccination clinics. You can also call 206-684-2489 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. from Monday through Saturday for sign-up assistance. The sites are Lumen Field Event Center (330 South Royal Brougham Way), North Seattle College Community Vaccination Hub (9600 College Way North), Rainier Beach Community Vaccination Hub, 8702 Seward Park Ave. S., and West Seattle Community Vaccination Hub (2801 S.W. Thistle St).
I recognize that you may have questions or concerns about receiving the vaccine, and I encourage you to turn to trusted sources to talk through your questions. Our colleagues in Public Health have put together a wealth of flyers, videos, and other materials—many of them tailored for BIPOC communities and translated into several languages—to help you learn more and spread the word about COVID-19 vaccination in your community.
Vaccination ultimately will bring this pandemic under control, and the impact of COVID-19 will decrease as more people are protected through vaccination. Until then, we must remain committed to our proven prevention strategies:
- Wear a well-made, snug fitting face mask and maintain physical distancing
- Limit activities with unvaccinated people from outside your home
- Avoid crowded indoor spaces
- Improve ventilation in workplaces, businesses, and homes, including opening doors and windows when you can
- Stay home from work and get tested if you have COVID-19 symptoms or were exposed to someone who has tested positive – testing is free at any of the King County and Seattle sites.
Please continue to take care of yourself and one another.
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Supporting working parents as schools return to in-person learning
Many school districts in our region have either restarted in-person learning or announced plans to restart in-person learning. Seattle School District middle and high school students are returning to in-person classes April 19.
The return to in-person learning may create additional challenges for working parents and employees may need additional schedule flexibility or need to take leave during this learning transition.
We have provided some options below to support employees with school-aged children. Please work with your supervisor and seek approval when pursuing these options, and consult your HR Manager for more details. Supervisors are encouraged to be supportive and flexible with employees’ requests whenever possible.
- Request an adjustment to your work schedule. If you need to provide care or learning support for children during your usual workday, talk with your supervisor about whether an adjustment to your schedule could meet both your needs and the business needs of the county. Where permitted, an employee may adjust the time period in which they complete each day’s required work hours to help them better manage the competing demands on their time.
For example, instead of a standard 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. work schedule, an employee may be permitted to adjust their schedule to 6 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. five days a week. Employees may also be permitted to adjust their schedule to work a different number of hours on each day of the week as long as they complete their regular 35- or 40- hour work week. It is recommended that you create a consistent schedule to allow for some predictability for both your home and work life.
This option will not be appropriate for every employee or every function and will require the approval of an employee’s supervisor. Any change to the schedule of an employee represented by a labor organization must be consistent with the relevant collective bargaining agreement. If an employee would like to adjust their hours, they are encouraged to have a discussion with their supervisor.
A Pandemic Alternative Work Schedule form must be completed and approved by the employee’s supervisor prior to beginning an adjusted schedule. After an employee begins an adjusted schedule, supervisors should conduct periodic reviews with the employee to evaluate the success of the arrangement.
***Supervisors: Consider how you can support a schedule change and consult with your department’s HR Manager if you have questions or concerns. - Request to use your own accruals for time off. You can request to use your leave balances (vacation, BTO, comp. time, executive leave, etc.). For hourly employees this could mean taking two hours of vacation time and then logging six hours of work time. Currently FSLA exempt employees are not approved to use their own accruals in partial day absences.
***Supervisors: Consider how you can support your employee’s request and consult with HR if you have questions or concerns. - Request an Unpaid Leave of Absence. Ask your HR representative about the possibility of taking an unpaid leave of absence. Employees should also discuss potential impacts to employee benefits (for example, retirement credits, healthcare benefits, leave accruals, etc.) with HR.
You will also find more on leave options, telecommuting, and COVID-19 protocols in our Temporary COVID-19 Personnel Policy.
Metro Transit has also provided some useful tips to help students and families get ready for using transit for their school commute. Learn more here.
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How to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment
COVID-19 vaccine eligibility is currently open to those who qualify under Phases 1A and 1B Tiers 1-4, but starting Thursday, April 15, all Washington residents age 16 and up will be eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.
Whether you are eligible now or will be on April 15, it is important to remember that there are several ways you can make an appointment for the vaccine:
- Go to vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov to search for COVID-19 vaccine appointments near you by zip code.
- Call your doctor’s office or health care provider to see if they have available vaccination appointments.
- Whether you’re a Kaiser Permanente member or not, King County employees can follow these steps to get a COVID-19 vaccine with Kaiser Permanente.
- For language interpretation, call the Washington state COVID-19 Assistance Hotline: Dial 1-800-525-0127 or 1-888-856-5816, then press #. Available Monday 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Tuesday to Sunday and observed state holidays 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. For language interpretation, state your preferred language when you are connected. Phone support is also available from the Public Health COVID-19 Call Center at 206-477-3977, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- WA COVID Vaccine Finder is a volunteer-driven effort to help Washingtonians find appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine: covidwa.com
- Preregister with the City of Seattle’s vaccination appointment notification list at the four city-affiliated vaccination clinics. You can also call 206-684-2489 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. for sign-up assistance. The sites are Lumen Field Event Center (330 South Royal Brougham Way), North Seattle College Community Vaccination Hub (9600 College Way North), Rainier Beach Community Vaccination Hub, 8702 Seward Park Ave. S., and West Seattle Community Vaccination Hub (2801 S.W. Thistle St).
Leave time: If your COVID-19 vaccine appointment occurs during a time you are scheduled to work, please follow regular procedures for requesting leave. Sick leave and COVID-19 Paid Administrative Leave may be used for COVID-19 vaccine appointments as well as recovering from side effects.
After COVID-19 vaccination: Thank you for getting vaccinated and helping our communities get one step closer to overcoming this pandemic. After vaccination, it’s important to continue COVID-19 precautions to protect co-workers, friends, and family. Please follow Public Health’s guidance at www.kingcounty.gov/vaccine.Employee webpage: Visit out one-stop employee COVID-19 vaccines webpage where you can learn how to find out when you are eligible, how to schedule a vaccine, your leave options, and much more.
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School-to-Work Transition Fairs go virtual in 2021
Since 2005, in response to community need, the King County School-to-Work Program (S2W) has partnered across numerous organizations to help students with developmental disabilities seek and gain employment before they leave their high school programs.
This year, S2W is excited to present its Annual Transition Fair exclusively online. As in previous years, the highly anticipated event is offered to the entire community – families, teachers, local agencies, and potential employers. The Transition Fair is designed to help students with developmental disabilities find employment before leaving their high school programs.
Participants can access online content anytime through May 31. There are a wide variety of resources, featuring new videos on the School-to-Work program, what it is and how to participate. These testimonials by students, families, schools and other community partners share how it is key to focus on employment early, what success looks like, advice for families, and how services have adapted and remain important during COVID-19.
There will be two virtual Exhibitor Expos with more than 40 community partners, including supported employment agencies for students before they leave school. Representatives will be available in virtual rooms for real-time conversations.
Like past events, attendees can learn about a wide range of services and resources, including Washington’s adult employment services system, Social Security, housing, recreation, guardianships, wills and trusts, as well as other critical information to successfully transition students to adult living.
- Tuesday, April 20 from 9:30 a.m. ‑1 p.m.
- Saturday, May 1 from 9:30 a.m. ‑1 p.m.
Open Doors for Multicultural Families will be offering both support and interpreter services for the live presentations.
Open Doors provides culturally and linguistically relevant information, services, and programming to families of persons with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
Registration gives you access to additional live presentations like the School-to-Work Program Orientation, and both Washington’s Developmental Disabilities Administration and Division of Vocational Rehabilitation on eligibility, services for youth, and their partnership with the School-to-Work Program.
- King County School-to-Work Program: Wednesday, April 21from 3:00‑4:30 p.m.
- Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Transition Services and School-to-Work: Tuesday, April 27 from 1‑2 p.m.
- Developmental Disabilities Administration Eligibility and Services: Wednesday, April 28 from 9‑10 a.m.
King County has been a national leader for over 20 years in promoting and supporting people with developmental disabilities to gain and maintain employment. Starting early, the School-to-Work program has supported hundreds of students to obtain employment upon leaving high school, becoming highly valued members of the workforce in hundreds of businesses in our region.
Please share with all who may be interested and Register here!
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Celebrating our 911 staff National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week
This week we are recognizing King County’s 911 Communications Center employees and the KCIT employees who support the 911 system during National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, Sunday, April 11 through Saturday, April 17.
911 Communications Center employees are the primary link between people who desperately need help and people who provide it. The King County Sheriff’s Office handles 911 calls from unincorporated King County, 12 cities, Metro Transit Police, King County Airport Police, and Regional Animal Services of King County.
More than half a million people rely on the County’s call receivers, dispatchers, and other personnel who answer and dispatch calls for police services, take police reports by phone, research “tape” requests, support the computer aided dispatch (CAD) and E-911 systems, and manage a host of special projects and functions.
The E-911 Program Office is within KCIT and is responsible for ensuring correct routing of a 911 call to the appropriate Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP), which provide 911 call answering and dispatch services for local jurisdictions
If you ever need to make a 911 call, you can find crucial information on what to do when you call 911 on the Enhanced 911 website and the Sheriff’s 911 Communications Center website.
Employee News 