Employee News
Telling the stories of King County employees
King County is hosting several COVID-19 vaccination clinics open to all employees and their families, with vaccinator partners Discovery Health and Pliable. All King County Executive branch employees must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18, 2021. To meet this requirement, employees must receive their second shot of a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or single shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine by Monday, Oct. 4, 2021, and provide verified proof of vaccination as soon as you receive your final vaccination. All three vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson) will be available at the clinics… Read More
King County is enabling MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) technology as an additional layer of cyber security to the VPN (King County is enabling MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) technology as an additional layer of cyber security to the VPN (Virtual Private Network) solution, AnyConnect. At this time, employees are only required to input their username and password to login to AnyConnect. Soon, employees will also experience an MFA challenge on the same device or phone number they use for Microsoft Office 365. If you do not currently utilize MFA for enhanced cyber security, do not… Read More
The King County Innovation Awards honor employees and teams whose projects, improvements, and ingenuity deliver exceptional, measurable results. This year’s Equity and Social Justice Award recipient is the Department of Public Health – Seattle & King County’s Community Mitigation and Recovery Team (CMR). These honorees consider challenges within their delivery of services to King County residents, and developed solutions that address important needs. They met each challenge in a creative and forward-thinking manner that reflects our True North values. The pandemic disproportionately affected communities that have been historically underserved. To mitigate the… Read More
Every King County employee should feel safe and secure when at work. To achieve this, we remind you to report any threatening behavior or non-emergency incidents for follow-up to the FMD Security Unit using the online Security Incident Report form. You can report incidents that happen at work or on your commute. Also notify your supervisor, manager, and/or director as soon as you can. Additionally, if you see anything or anyone that looks unusual or out of place, please call Facilities Management Division (FMD) Security at 206-296-5000. If it’s an emergency, call 9-1-1 first, then call… Read More
The King County Innovation Awards seek to honor employees and teams whose projects, improvements, and ingenuity deliver exceptional, measurable results. These honorees have considered challenges within their delivery of services to King County residents, and developed solutions that address an important need. These honorees met each challenge in a creative and forward-thinking manner that reflects our True North values. This year’s People Innovation Award recipient is the Department of Human Resource’s Mental Health Initiative. “With the twin public health crises of COVID-19 and racism, it became imperative that we were taking care… Read More
The Children and Family Justice Center (CFJC) Youth Action Team is an opportunity for young people ages 14 thru 18, from a variety of backgrounds, to come together to find and share their voices as it relates to community resources, planning, and engagement. Who can apply? King county youth, ages 14 thru 18. No previous experience needed to be a member, only a willingness to get involved. Must possess a passion for taking an active approach to create a united community within King County. The Youth Action Team meets at the Child… Read More
COVID-19 vaccines help our bodies develop immunity to the virus that causes COVID-19 without us having to get the illness. When you get the vaccine, your immune system makes antibodies and other infection-fighting cells that protect you in case you are infected with the virus. How do the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines work? Vaccines that have been authorized from Pfizer and Moderna are mRNA vaccines. mRNA vaccine technology has been studied and worked with for decades. There is no virus in the mRNA vaccines, so you cannot get a COVID-19 infection from… Read More
If you are contacted by a member of the media in your professional capacity as a King County employee, you should know what steps to take and who to reach out to in your department. Your first point of contact should always be your department’s Public Information Officer, who can work with the reporter to answer their questions and connect them with the best person to represent the county on an issue. We have put together a brief reference guide to help you if you are contacted by a member of the… Read More
A few years ago, when Environmental Health Services (EHS) Program Manager Greg Wilson was asked to create a program that looked for the future workforce for Public Health – Seattle & King County (PHSKC), he not only ran with it, but wholeheartedly embraced the opportunity. Today he serves as the Program Manager for the EHS Division’s Education Engagement Strategy Program. The Program focuses on providing Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) opportunities for middle school to college-age students that include internships, work study, and job shadow opportunities. It also offers an… Read More
The King County Innovation Awards seek to honor employees within department teams whose projects, improvements, and ingenuity deliver exceptional, measurable results. This year, however, the Service award honors not individuals, but teams who pulled together to address the urgent needs of the COVID pandemic in our community. The True North values of “We are one team,” “We solve problems,” and above all, “We respect all people” drove these teams to come up with creative and effective solutions that truly aided some of the most vulnerable in our community. Due to the pandemic,… Read More
Dear fellow King County employee, September is National Recovery and Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and it comes at a time when anxiety and pandemic-fueled trauma are on the rise nationally after some recent improvements. At King County we have seen a similar trend in a recent survey of employee well-being and belonging. I know this is a worrying time, with COVID-19 once again surging, new restrictions being put in place, and parents getting ready to send their kids back to school after so many months. We need to continue to pay particular… Read More
When you’re exposed to COVID-19 today in King County, it’s most likely that you’re being exposed to a highly contagious variant of the virus. Of the recent COVID-19 test samples genetically sequenced in King County, about 90 percent represent a variant of concern and not the original strain of the virus, and about 60 percent of these are the Delta variant. This is concerning because the Delta variant is so contagious. The large majority of recent cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are among unvaccinated residents. Almost 95 percent of recent hospitalizations and deaths… Read More
There is an increase in COVID-19 cases among county employees, reflecting the rise in cases in the community. You can help slow the spread of COVID-19 at work by staying home when you’re sick, even if your symptoms are mild. COVID-19 symptoms may include but are not limited to fever or chills, a cough, shortness of breath and difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea. Vaccinated people can still get COVID and unintentionally spread it,… Read More
All King County Executive branch employees must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18, 2021, and there are some important dates you need to know to meet this requirement. We’ve put together a short 90-second video that outlines the key dates for the three approved vaccines – Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson – and when you’ll need to start the vaccine schedule to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18, 2021. Watch the video below:
Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is not only important in protecting you from contracting the virus, but you are also helping to protect your family, friends, co-workers, and customers, especially those who may be at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19 and those who cannot be vaccinated. COVID-19 vaccination will help you from getting sick or seriously ill with COVID-19. It helps protect you by teaching your body’s immune system to fight the virus without having to experience a COVID-19 infection. In the clinical trials, the COVID-19 vaccines that are currently available… Read More
The King County Innovation Awards seek to honor employees within department teams whose projects, improvements, and ingenuity deliver exceptional, measurable results. These honorees have considered challenges within their delivery of services to King County residents, and developed solutions that address an important need. Through the True North values of “We solve problems” and “We drive for results,” these honorees met each challenge in a creative and forward-thinking manner. Receiving the Innovation Award for Cost, which includes anything that is financially related and affects the County’s finances, is the Department of Executive Services… Read More
All King County Executive branch employees must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18, 2021, and there are many options for getting vaccinated in your community or at work. No appointment is needed at many community locations, and most pharmacies, clinics, and Public Health centers now offer drop-in COVID-19 vaccination. Vaccination is available regardless of insurance, citizenship, or immigration status. You will not be billed or charged for vaccination. COVID-19 vaccine is always free. Because obtaining the vaccination is mandatory, employees will be paid for the time spent getting the COVID-19 vaccine. This… Read More
By Whitney Abrams, Chief People Officer Three years ago I launched King County’s Nondiscrimination, Anti-Harassment and Inappropriate Conduct Policy as part of our efforts to provide a workplace culture where every employee is treated with respect and valued for their unique skills, experiences, and perspectives. Our policy is clear: any type of harassment or discrimination at King County is prohibited. The policy clearly sets out the conduct and behaviors that will not be tolerated, as well as how to report incidents, all employees’ responsibilities, and the consequences of non-compliance. Since launching the… Read More
All King County Executive branch employees must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18, 2021. Oct. 4 is the last opportunity to get vaccinated to meet the Oct. 18 deadline. To meet this requirement, employees must: Receive their second shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or the first shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, by Oct. 4, 2021, and Provide verified proof of vaccination by Oct. 18, 2021 Make sure you know when you need to start your vaccine schedule in order to meet the Oct. 18 requirement: If you opt for the… Read More
Several King County leaders today announced the honorees for the 2020 Executive’s Performance Excellence Awards in a series of video announcements, recognizing employees and teams for their exceptional contributions to performance, leadership, service, and innovation to better serve our customers. “These awards honor employees and workgroups for their exceptional contributions in performance, leadership, and innovation,” King County Executive Dow Constantine said. “Recognizing great work is important; celebrating our accomplishments is important; and that’s the purpose of the Performance Excellence Awards. It’s an opportunity to celebrate our own successes and the employees who… Read More