U.S. Department of Defense to present awards to King County and DAJD
The Department of Defense’s Employer Support of the Guard (ESGR) will present King County and the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention (DAJD) with awards, Nov. 8, in recognition of their support of County employees who currently serve in the Reserve and National Guard. King County was nominated for the award by Senior Master Sergeant Michelle Helpenstell, a corrections officer with DAJD, who also serves in the Reserve.
“When I learned of the Freedom Award I immediately knew I needed to recognize those who have been so supportive to KC military members,” said Michelle. “King County gives us all our benefits while gone, including medical and dental coverage. I continue to earn my leave while gone, and they make up any pay difference. I cannot tell you how much that alleviates stress on the family while we are gone. This allows me to concentrate on doing my military job and not having to worry about what is going on back home.
Although King County did not receive ESGR’s Freedom Award, Chief Operating Officer Casey Sixkiller will accept the “Above and Beyond” Award on behalf of King County. This award recognizes employers at the local level who have gone above and beyond the legal requirements of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) by providing their Guard and Reserve employees additional, non-mandated benefits such as differential or full pay to offset lost wages, extended health benefits, and other similar benefits.
“While deployed to Kandahar Afghanistan in 2014 my leadership emailed me on a regular basis, checking it to make sure I didn’t need anything,” said Michelle. “My co-workers are my work family, we take care of each other and have each other’s back.”
DAJD Deputy Director Hikari Tamura will be accepting ESGR’s “Honors” Award, which recognizes King County as one of 2,350 employers nominated nationwide for the prestigious Freedom Award, which in and of itself is an important achievement. The award is presented to DAJD, because it was their employee who submitted the nomination.
The event will also acknowledge the approximately 90 County employees who currently serve and present several County managers with the ESGR Patriot Award for the direct support they provide to their Guard and Reserve employees.
The award ceremony is open to all County employees who want to show their support of their fellow employees who currently serve or have served in the U.S. military.
For more information on the event and registration information click here.
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Sisters Who Care about breast cancer awareness
True to their name, the Sisters Who Care really do care about their Juvenile Court colleagues and clients. This group of employees includes African American women who champion various causes and projects throughout the year. They are responsible for the annual Juneteenth celebration, and this month they feature Justice in Pink, a focus on Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Justice in Pink is the brainchild of Superior Court Renton Unit Supervisor JoeAnne Taylor and Renton Juvenile Probation Counselor Darlin Johnson who noticed many co-workers and family members were affected by cancer diagnoses. Justice in Pink is designed to educate Juvenile Court staff and the families they serve about early intervention, types of cancer and types of treatment.
Every Thursday in October over the lunch hour the Sisters Who Care are dressed in pink at the entrance to Juvenile Court handing out information about cancer, treatment and the benefits of early intervention.
Thank you to Janaye White, Shirley Noble and Darlin Johnson who took their place at the table on Oct. 11.
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Look for Open Enrollment information in your mailbox
Check your home mailbox for important benefits and Open Enrollment information mailed recently to the address you have listed in PeopleSoft. Open Enrollment takes place Nov. 1 – 15 and is your opportunity to:
- Enroll in the new short-term disability plan (Regular employees only)—Learn more at Life and Disability Insurance. To help you decide if this benefit is right for you, use the decision support tools, including videos, claims examples, rates, and coverage highlights.
- Change medical plans—Use the Plan Comparison Charts and other resources on the Medical plan page to consider whether Kaiser SmartCare or KingCare Select (Regence) makes sense for your family. The KingCare (Regence) plan is also still available. Note: KingCare Select is not available to Deputy Sheriff/PSPMA and TEA-DOT employees.
- Select the appropriate Benefit Access Fee—or exemption. If you cover a spouse or domestic partner on your medical plan, a Benefit Access Fee may be automatically applied, depending on your benefit group and the plan you choose. If you qualify for an exemption, you must confirm this each year during Open Enrollment.
- Enroll in a Flexible Spending Account—Health Care or Dependent Care FSAs reduce your taxable income. The health FSA maximum contribution for 2019 is $2,650.
- Contribute—Give to the Employee Giving Program during the Annual Giving Drive.
What if you don’t participate in Open Enrollment?
- You will remain enrolled in your current medical plan.
- The Benefit Access Fee associated with your medical plan and benefit group will automatically be applied if you cover your spouse or domestic partner.
- You will not be enrolled in a Flexible Spending Account.
- Your other benefit choices will remain the same for next year.
For more Open Enrollment and benefits information visit www.kingcounty.gov/Open-Enrollment or contact Benefits, Payroll and Retirement Operations at 206-684-1556, by email at KC.Benefits@kingcounty.gov or at the Chinook Building, 401 Fifth Ave., 2nd Floor, Seattle 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., Monday – Friday (closed Veterans Day, Nov. 12).
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Supported Employment Program recognized at Governor’s Employer Award Program
King County’s Supported Employment Program was nominated for the Employment and Disability Issue Governor Awards for 2018 Public Sector Employer of the Year. The awards ceremony was held at the Microsoft Conference Center on Wednesday, October 17. The program was recognized by the Washington State Governor’s Committee on Disability Issues & Employment (GCDE) for the efforts of public employers (federal, state, local government) and their efforts to recruit, hire and advance the employment of individuals with disabilities.
Although King County did not win the award, (hats off to the City of Bellevue) this was a great opportunity to not only recognize the work and commitment of program staff, but also the Executive’s commitment to supported employment.
“Although King County’s Supported Employment Program did not win the award today, I am honored that the nomination was considered and continue to be grateful for Christina’s work and the direction our program is going,” said Jeff Casem, Disability Services Supervisor.
Attending the event included (from left to right): Jeff Casem (Disability Services Supervisor), Whitney Abrams (Chief People Officer), Christina Davidson (Supported Employment Program Manager), Ting Chou (Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention Administrative Office Assistant), Susan Stremel (Department of Community and Human Services Program Manager), Brooke Caddock (King County Council Office Assistant) and Liesa Spring (Senior Employment Consultant from Trilium Employment Agency.
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Employees participants needed for discussion about engagement data
The employee engagement team is looking for employees with ideas on how to improve the county’s response to what employees have said about their experience at King County. Contact Brooke Bascom at Brooke.Bascom@kingcounty.gov if you are interested in participating in a discussion that looks at:
- Are we responding to the engagement data in the most effective way?
- What works about action planning at the workgroup level?
- What doesn’t work about action planning at the workgroup level?
- What do we need to do that we’re not currently doing to improve engagement at King County?
- What should we keep doing to improve engagement at King County?
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Training Spotlight: Communication skills in the workplace and Introduction to strategic planning
Communication Skills in the Workplace, Oct. 25: Communication skills are vital in today’s workplace. In this course you will identify the four primary communication styles, learn how to recognize your style as well as the styles of others, and how to overcome common communication roadblocks and barriers. Learn more and register
Introduction to Strategic Planning, Nov 1: This training provides an overview of what strategic planning is, when and why to develop a strategic plan, and how it fits with other management systems and functions. The basic elements and processes used to develop a strategic plan and key issues that need to be addressed with implementing strategic plans will be described. Participants will be provided with several planning tools to help with a planning effort. Learn more and register
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Q&A with our Elections translators: Juan Vazquez, Spanish
Crossposted from Election Connection
We’re highlighting the great work our translators do helping make our elections and services accessible to every member of the community. Here we sit down for a brief Q&A with Juan Vazquez, our Spanish language translator.
What brings you to working in local government at King County? I was born in Mexico, but immigrated to the United States when I was thirteen. I attended Seattle University for my Bachelor of Arts, then completed my Master of Arts at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, CA. Afterwards I went on to work for the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer serving in Cape Verde and Brazil.
I enjoyed living overseas and working for the federal government, but I wanted to come back home to make a difference in my community so I decided to join King County Elections. I want to be part of an organization that strives to provide all citizens with the opportunity to participate in the democratic process.
Read more at Election Connection
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Employee Giving events Oct. 23 and 31
This year’s Annual Giving Drive is in full swing and there a plenty of events around the county that you can take part in to support, or discover, your favorite nonprofit, such as:
Pancake Feed, Oct. 23, 7 – 9 a.m. Courthouse, 1st Floor, RM W-150: Join us to eat some delicious pancakes and help us support the S.H.E.R.I.F.F. Fund! Benefits the S.H.E.R.I.F.F. Fund 9008.
Festival of Frights Halloween Carnival, Oct. 31, noon – 1:30 p.m., Lean Lab, third floor of Admin Building: The Executive Office presents the first Festival of Frights Halloween carnival, a carnival of spooky sensations, The event will benefit Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets and Project SeaWolf.
For information about other Employee Giving Program (EGP) Events, view the special events calendar. To add an EGP event to the calendar submit the information here.
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Kudos! King County Community Court featured on King 5!
The King County Community Court, a collaboration between King County District Court, the City of Redmond and the King County Library System, was recently highlighted on KING 5 news. The article and video explained how this new court, set up at the Redmond Library, encourages non-violent offenders to seek help and rebound from their mistakes.
“We’re holding people accountable, but at the same time, concurrently, allowing them to rehabilitate themselves in hopes that they will not come back into the system,” said Judge Lisa Paglisotti, who oversees the King County Community Court.
View the full article and watch the video here at KING 5.
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Women in Leadership Lunch and Learn, Oct. 30
WILpower increases knowledge and skills about leadership through a series of nine monthly interactive workshops with expert speakers, as well as regular networking and discussion groups that reinforce the powerful messages heard in the workshops.
Please consider attending a Lunch & Learn presentation by the Chair of the WILPower Leadership Team, Susan Seah October 30 from noon to 1pm in Chinook Conference Room 124. Women in Leadership (WILpower) trainings for 2019 will start January. View the calendar for 2019 WILpower workshops here.
Employee News 