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Holiday travel? Metro will help you get there
Emergency exercise tests communications ahead of World Cup
King County Wins 2025 Geospatial Professional Network Award for Innovative AI-GIS System
Recognizing the service of Metro veterans
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Training Spotlight for October 15
Introduction to Mindful Self-Compassion – Online – Mindful Self-Compassion combines the skills of mindfulness and self-compassion, providing a powerful tool for emotional resilience. This class is being offered through Balanced You and is free. To view available opportunities and register, please follow this link. Register here. More opportunities are available on our King County Eventbrite page. For more information, contact the Learning and Development Team at KCTraining@kingcounty.gov or visit Learning and Development at www.kingcounty.gov/learning.
Learn how to boost your retirement savings
You and your spouse or significant other are invited to learn more about saving for retirement with the King County Deferred Compensation Plan. Several webinars are coming up Oct. 20, and 21, Nov. 2, and Dec. 4, including the following. See details and registration. Social Security Simplified Retirement Ready Savings Strategies Creating and Balancing a Budget Financial Wellness Women and Retirement If you would like to meet individually with a retirement specialist who can help you review your retirement goals, schedule a virtual check-in. For more information about Deferred Compensation Plan education, go… Read More
A Conversation on the Impacts of the Pandemic While Living with a Disability, October 29
The Disability Awareness Committee, Balanced You, and the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) are hosting a panel featuring employees with disabilities who will share their experiences and stories living through this pandemic. Resources to support employees with disabilities will also be shared during this panel discussion. All King County employees are welcome to join. Thursday, Oct. 29, from 10-11:30 a.m. Register here. If you have questions about this opportunity, please email JaChristensen@kingcounty.gov.
Love your King County employee benefits?
Want to help spread the word about the great employee benefits King County provides? The Benefits Team is looking for employees who utilize and love their employee benefits. If this is you—and you’d like to find out even more and help your coworkers learn about their benefit choices during Open Enrollment, Nov. 1–15, let us know! Later this month, you will be provided with virtual training and materials, so that you can encourage participation in Open Enrollment, answer questions, and offer support to the people you work with. Participation is strictly voluntary, on… Read More
Facilities Management Division staff tackle big challenges
Crossposted from DES Express It takes a team to manage the challenges that 2020 has brought to King County and the world. The need for cleaning has increased incredibly from both COVID-19 and protests associated with racial injustice. Repeatedly, downtown county buildings have been tagged with graffiti. Facilities Management Division (FMD) employees have all stepped up, from trades workers to custodians, Utility workers and security officers, to name a few. “I am just so proud of all the work FMD employees put in each and every day for this county,” said Aaron Bert,… Read More
Building a Future that Works celebration, October 20
The U.S. Department of Labor will host a virtual celebration of the 75th annual National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) and the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The event will explore the crucial role of accessible technology in this year’s NDEAM theme of “Increasing Access and Opportunity” for people with disabilities, and the Labor Department’s work to ensure that emerging technologies are accessible to all in the workplace. Features will include insightful dialogues with thought leaders and a video showcase of the latest innovations in communications,… Read More
Featured Job: Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Mediator
Salary: $97,787.25 – $123,950.94 Annually Location: Seattle, WA Job Type: Career Service, Full Time, 40 hrs/week Department: DHR – Human Resources Job Number: 2020EM12244 Division: Career and Culture Closing: 10/20/2020 11:59 PM Pacific Learn more about this position or view all available positions.
Media Representation of Race and Disability Lunch and Learn, October 21
The Department of Human Resources is hosting a Lunch and Learn discussion via Zoom that focus on Race and Disability. We will begin our discussion with a short captioned video and then have an open dialogue facilitated by Gloria Ngezaho, Jennifer Greenlee, Lili Stansberry, and Christina Davidson. All King County employees are welcome to join. Wednesday, Oct. 21, from noon to 1 p.m. Please email Christina.Davidson@kingcounty.gov to register for the Lunch and Learn session. You will receive an Outlook calendar meeting invite with the Zoom link post registration.
Fleet moves ahead with Lean projects, saving money and reducing waste
Crossposted from DES Express Folks in Fleet have been busy working on ways to make processes more efficient. In fact, they have three examples of new or improved processes that will save the county money, reduce waste, and free up staff time for other Lean work. “We’ve been on a Lean journey way before I got here in late 2018,” said Lynn Walters, shop supervisor. “COVID slowed everything down but we were able to get back on track.” Walters said there has been universal alignment and support of the Lean efforts from the… Read More
Skype is retiring as King County moves to Microsoft Teams
Skype is retiring and King County is moving to Teams for all of our county communication. Most employees will move by the end of the year. This means one click – in one application – will give employees: Instant Messages: Send IMs and chat with individuals, teams or groups, all in one location. Meet: Schedule meetings or invite anyone with an email address to join your meeting. Employees can collaborate in real-time, share screens or use a digital whiteboard. Call: Make and receive calls within King County or to outside people or groups, with no app needed. Collaborate: Teams will… Read More
Show your support for Latinx Heritage Month through the 2020 Annual Giving Drive
Latinx Heritage Month may be drawing to a close, but there are many opportunities to support nonprofits participating in the Annual Giving Drive whose work supports Latinx, Hispanic, and Latino-identified communities. Today we’ve highlighted four more nonprofits participating in this year’s campaign: Centro Cultural Guanín, Inc (0990): Our mission is to provide a safe and supportive environment where youth can experience new opportunities, overcome barriers, build positive relationships, develop confidence, and cultivate skills for life in the Dominican-Haitian community. Colectiva Legal del Pueblo (9918): We are a non-hierarchical collective founded by and for undocumented immigrants… Read More
Cast your vote early, make your voice heard
Dear Colleagues, Voting plays a critical role in our democracy and our dedicated staff at King County Elections work tirelessly to ensure we have secure, accessible and accurate elections. This general election, we’re projecting a record-breaking 90% voter turnout. This is exciting! It also means we expect as many as 450,000 ballots returned through drop boxes on Nov. 3 alone. Beat traffic, avoid lines and ensure your voice is heard by making a vote plan and returning your ballot early. Make a plan! Last week we mailed out ballots to nearly 1.4 million… Read More
Collective care tips and emotional well-being resources for the LatinX/Hispanic community
LatinX/Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated every year from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. As LatinX/Hispanic Heritage Month comes to a close, Balanced You would like to remind the LatinX community about resources available to support their emotional well-being, including spaces for celebration, joy, and connection; tips for self- and collective-care; and traditional mental health resources. Visit this Balanced You blogpost for more information.
2020 Strategic Climate Action Plan – All employee briefing opportunity, October 19
King County employees are invited to come learn about the County’s proposed 2020 Strategic Climate Action Plan (SCAP) at a free webinar on Monday, Oct. 19. The 2020 SCAP is the County’s five-year blueprint for climate action, integrating climate change into all areas of County operations and work with King County cities, partners, communities, and residents. The plan outlines King County’s priorities and commitments for climate action for decision-makers, employees, partners, and the public. On Aug. 27, Executive Constantine transmitted his recommended plan to the County Council. All King County employees are invited to participate to… Read More
Keep an eye out for your ballot
Yesterday ballots were mailed out. Set an alarm for Monday, Oct. 19 – this is when you should have received your ballot. If you haven’t received your ballot by then, give King County Elections a call at 206-296-VOTE (8683) to get a replacement or go online to kingcounty.gov/elections/obmp to print one out at home. Thinking through when you’re going to vote and how you’re going to return your ballot can help make sure that you get back your ballot back on time and make sure your voice heard. Start by taking two minutes now… Read More
STAR-LA Interview Practice and Feedback online workshops, October 15 and 23
This 60-minute, VIRTUAL, small group workshop is designed to provide mock interview practice and feedback using the STAR-LA method as taught by King County Career Support Services. This workshop is ideal for participants who have attended the Strategic Interviewing Tips and Techniques workshop and/or have reviewed the STAR-LA method found on the Career Support Services website. There are two opportunities to attend this online workshop: Thursday, Oct. 15 from 1-2 p.m. and Friday, Oct. 23 from 11 a.m. to noon. Register here. For additional online workshops offered by King County Career Support Services (CSS), visit their Eventbrite page. For… Read More
Access to King County systems restored after outage
Access to King County systems has been restored after a widespread network outage, and you should now be able to access all of your services and systems. We appreciate your patience and understanding. Thank you.
Pet of the Week: Auggie
Who is this handsome doggie? It’s Auggie, our Pet of the Week! This senior Havanese was brought in by his previous family because they could no longer care for him. Auggie lived in a home with one cat, and is sweet and affectionate. He would be thrilled to cuddle up with you at home! Auggie can be quite shy, so he would do best in a calm and quiet home – that’s why we call him one of our “Bashful Blue” personality pets. He can get anxious when he’s not with his people, so it would… Read More
October 15: Participate in the ShakeOut drill and KCInform employee alert test
On Oct. 15 at 10:15 a.m., millions of people will practice how to Drop, Cover, and Hold On during an earthquake as a part of the annual ShakeOut drill. As part of the ShakeOut drill, at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15, we will test KCInform, our employee alert and warning system. A text, voice message, and email will go out to all registered County phones and emails, along with personal phones and emails that have registered. The message will look like this: This is a test of KCInform, King County’s employee emergency notification system. This is only a test. Remember to Drop, Cover… Read More
Free live, virtual exercises classes for King County employees
You asked for it and here it is! In response to employee requests, Balanced You, in partnership with Vivecorp, will begin offering free, live, virtual exercise classes on Wednesday, Oct. 21. King County employees and anyone in their home, including children, are welcome to join. During the pandemic, many people have shifted to outside exercise due to gym closures and restrictions. As fall and winter set in, Balanced You recognizes that it will be harder to get outdoors and exercise, so we want to provide you with other ways to move. Recently, in Employee News,… Read More
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