Employee News
Telling the stories of King County employees
The King County Innovation Awards – part of the Executive’s Performance Excellence 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. They also met each challenge in a creative and forward-thinking manner that reflects our True North values. The Innovation Award for Sustainability went to the Biogas Optimization Team at the South Wastewater Treatment Plant. The team strategically allocated limited resources to… Read More
The King County Latinx Affinity Group (KCLx) is excited to kick off a variety of events and discussions that celebrate the colorful and eclectic heritage of Latinx identity. KCLx is curious to ask the Latinx community, “What does this identity mean to you?” To answer this question, KCLx is launching the “What does LATINX mean to you?” Art Contest. This contest is an opportunity for participants to showcase their unique interpretation of Latinx/o, Chicanx/o, and Hispanic identity. KCLx wants participants to answer the question “We all share common stories, such as culture, heritage,… Read More
In celebration of National Food Service Employee Day on Sept. 25, the Children’s and Family Justice Center (CFJC) would like to recognize the food services team. The team provides CFJC youth all their nutritional needs and operate under the National School Lunch Program guidelines. They are being recognized for all their outstanding efforts during COVID-19, the winter snow in March, and for working diligently with minimal staffing levels, particularly throughout this year. Every challenge has been met with professionalism and pride, a desire for continuous improvement, and a passion to build on… Read More
The City of Seattle and King County are working to improve on-demand, wheelchair accessible for-hire transportation, which includes taxicab, flat-rate/for-hire, and transportation network company (or TNC, e.g., Uber and lift) services. The City and County are exploring ways to make it easier for those who use wheelchairs and other mobility devices to find and request on-demand trips, as part of a broader effort to make the local transportation system more equitable and accessible for all. Before implementing any program improvements or changes, we are conducting a survey of individuals who use wheelchairs… Read More
King County and the Coalition of Unions, Technical Employees Association, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 77 the King County Corrections Guild, and the King County Juvenile Detention Guild, reached an agreement over the COVID-19 vaccine mandate that affects all King County employees in the Executive Branch. On August 10, 2021, King County Executive Dow Constantine issued an order that all Executive Branch employees must be fully vaccinated by October 18, 2021. Since then, the Office of Labor Relations (OLR) has been in negotiations with labor unions on what will be… Read More
King County Executive Dow Constantine has proclaimed the month beginning Sept. 15 “Latinx/Hispanic Heritage Month” in King County. View the official proclamation here. National Latinx and Hispanic Heritage Month is observed Sept. 15-Oct. 15 in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. This month is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the long, important presence and contributions of Hispanic and Latino and Latina (Latinx) Americans. More than 62 million people of Latinx ancestry live in the United States, with almost 220,000 calling King County home. To commemorate the celebration, the King County Latinx Affinity Group (KCLx) in collaboration… Read More
Dear King County Employee, In the past year, with so many people staying home, social distancing, and masking up, we saw very little influenza (i.e., flu) circulating. Because of this, some experts believe that when influenza does return, the season could be a severe one. Although we can’t predict with certainty when the flu will return or how severe it will be, it’s especially important to be prepared at this time. Flu activity is low now in King County, but it’s important to be protected before it starts to spread in our… Read More
To provide verification of vaccine status, employees need to show official documentation. If you have lost your vaccination card, there are several ways to receive a replacement card or official document: For more information about receiving a replacement card, and other frequently asked questions, visit http://www.kingcounty.gov/vaccine.
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