No need to wait for a COVID-19 vaccine
If you’ve been waiting to get vaccinated against COVID-19, drop-in vaccination is available at vaccination sites across King County, no appointment needed. Vaccination in your car is available every day at the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital and on Mondays at King County’s Auburn Outlet Collection clinic. The Auburn clinic is open until 6:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, and several sites are open on Saturdays and Sundays. Please see the list of sites below for more details. As of May 13, everyone ages 12 and older is eligible for COVID-19 vaccination. Learn more about vaccination for youth… Read More
King County Security Tips – Wire Transfer Fraud
What would you do if you received an email from your CEO or CFO asking you to make an immediate or urgent wire transfer of funds? If you are the person in your organization who is responsible for such tasks and receive requests like this regularly, you may not think twice. However, with the increased sophistication of hackers and cybercriminals, you must Stop, Look, and Think before deciding how to proceed. Business Email Compromise is an advanced form of spear-phishing which targets employees of businesses that routinely perform wire transfer payments or… Read More
Could you use a vacation?
Updated June 23, 2021 A year ago, at this time, if you had a vacation planned for 2020 you probably cancelled it or were considering cancelling. If you hadn’t planned one, you were probably wondering if and when you would get to travel again. With almost half of all U.S. adults fully vaccinated, many people have begun traveling again or are making plans to do so. Some have accumulated robust vacation leave balances because of postponed or canceled travel plans. If you are wondering if it is safe to travel, the answer… Read More
Mask requirements remain in force for King County employees
On May 13, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities – large or small – without wearing a mask. Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced full alignment with the CDC masking guidance, and provided for businesses to retain the right to require customers and employees to wear masks. At King County, our existing mask mandate for employees remains in force while we review and update our policy guidance. Under our Temporary COVID-19 Personnel Policy, “Employees must wear… Read More
King County Security Tips – Is That Email Really from HR?
One of the easiest ways the bad guys trick you into falling victim to their fraudulent scams is to exercise a sense of trust by pretending to be someone you know. More than likely, you receive emails from your Human Resources team on a frequent basis. Scammers take advantage of this constant communication by crafting spear phishing attacks using emails that spoof your HR team. Spear phishing attacks are email scams that typically target an individual or organization by spoofing, or appearing to come from a trusted sender. Don’t blindly trust emails… Read More
Metro working with Public Health to get the word out to employees about vaccines
While COVID-19 vaccine availability has been steadily increasing in the region, the number of people getting vaccinated has begun to level off. Recently, Metro hosted a King County employee vaccine clinic at Metro’s South Training Center where Virginia Mason Franciscan Health vaccinated 575 King County employees. During the preparation for that clinic, Metro realized that some of their mission-critical workers are hesitant to get the vaccine. There are still many people in King County who have either decided not to get vaccinated or are still undecided. It’s normal to have questions or… Read More
Executive Constantine proclaims May as Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders Month
King County Executive Dow Constantine has issued a Proclamation recognizing May as Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders month. “We honor the invaluable contributions and leadership of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders across King County, whose communities are diverse and distinct in culture, ethnicity, history, language, nationality, racialidentity, religion, and a variety of complex identities – which means there is no single story of the AANHPI experience, but many different stories that strengthen our society,” Executive Constantine said in his Proclamation. “I encourage residents to join in this recognition of… Read More
Mandatory telework to end July 5, 2021
by Dow Constantine, King County Executive It has been more than a year since I instituted mandatory telework – for those King County employees whose work allowed for it – to slow the spread of COVID-19. I made this decision based on Public Health guidance for how we can make our workplaces as safe as possible for front-line employees and customers while continuing to provide essential in-person service. Your health and safety, and the health and safety of those we serve, continue to guide my decision making. Vaccines are clearly our best… Read More
Talent Acquisition steps up to the challenge
Finding the right job candidates during COVID-19 The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown many challenges at King County departments as they work to protect employees and customers from the virus while ensuring their services remain easily accessible. Continuing to recruit talented staff to fill the wide array of positions at the County, while maintaining social distancing is one of those challenges. Alongside the Talent Acquisition team within the Department of Human Resources (DHR), many departments at King County have their own recruiting teams. As you might expect, initial outreach to candidates is typically… Read More
Employee News 