Juneteenth Celebrations for King County employees
There are several Juneteenth events scheduled celebrating the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. These presentations will provide insights, education, and personal experiences from a historical and current day perspective. All King County employees are invited to attend. Stories from the Road to Freedom – SPARKS! conversation series Stories from the Road to Freedom, narrated by Deon Cole, gives a fresh perspective of the Black Movement in America, from Emancipation to the Civil Rights era. The film uses first-hand accounts, rare audio recordings, never-before-seen archival footage, and home movies to… Read More
King County Security Tips: Lock Your Screen
Locking your screen when you get up from your desk is a security action that is often overlooked and can have dangerous consequences. Failing to lock your screen can open you up to several vulnerabilities–some more serious than others. Although many organizations have a policy which automatically locks your screen with a screen saver after a certain amount of inactivity, not all screen savers are password-protected, leaving your workstation defenseless. Here are a few actions the bad guys can do when you leave your workstation unlocked and unattended: Files can be downloaded… Read More
FAQs and updates to mask requirements for King County employees
Mask requirements are evolving with changing federal, state, and local public health guidance, and will continue to be updated as needed. Effective immediately, King County employee mask policies are as follows: If you are working indoors or in an enclosed space with others (for example, multiple people in a vehicle): You must wear a mask whether or not you have been fully vaccinated. On May 18, the King County Public Health Officer directed all individuals – regardless of vaccination status – to continue wearing face coverings over their noses and mouths when… Read More
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
Employee News 