You’ll hear about your exemption request this week. Plus, tips for submitting vaccine records 

From Chief Human Resources Officer Michaela Doelman

Sept. 21, 2021  

Hello everyone,

Vaccinate ESD — our vaccination verification system — is working fairly well so far. We’ve approved more than 1,000 staff! Thank you so much to those who have submitted your documents.

If you haven’t verified your vaccination status yet and plan to
Most staff say they find the Vaccinate ESD system easy to use.

1. Open the Vaccination requirement page in the Chrome or Edge browser. Don’t use Internet Explorer (IE). If you are in IE, open Chrome or Edge and copy and paste this web address insideesd/services/vaccination-requirement into the address bar. Read all the instructions on the page.

2. Go to the Vaccinate ESD application, still within the Chrome or Edge browser, and follow the directions. 

Use a laptop camera, if possible
Many of you have reported that you need to submit the photos more than once because the system isn’t processing them correctly. We’re sorry — we’re working on this glitch.  We seem to have the best success rate with photos taken with a laptop camera.

If you don’t have a laptop with a camera, you can:

• Borrow one from a co-worker (if you’re working in the building). Have your co-worker log off first, then you can log in with your credentials. Log off before giving the laptop back to your co-worker. See instructions under Option 2 for taking the photos.
• Use a scanner (See Option 3.) in an agency building or in a WorkSource center near you. You’ll need your badge to use the scanner. If you don’t have an agency badge, ask a WorkSource partner for help.
• Use your state-issued cellphone (see Option 1.)

If none of the above works for you, please email the HR COVID Response Team at ESDGPHRCOVIDResponseTeam@ESD.WA.GOV. We’ll coordinate another way for us to verify your vaccination status.

If you sent us a copy of your vaccination records before we launched the Vaccinate ESD system
You don’t need to resend your records if we told you that we verified your vaccination status. However, guidance from the state is evolving and we don’t know what might be required in the future.

For that reason, we recommend that you submit your records again using the Vaccinate ESD system. This isn’t yet a requirement, but we recommend it.

We’re discontinuing the confirmation email
We have now stopped sending the email confirmation saying that we received your records. The system was overwhelmed. Many of you didn’t receive the email for a long time or didn’t get it at all.

So, from now on, you will get:

• The on-screen confirmation notice.
• The email from our Microsoft-based system saying that HR has approved your records. If you submitted your records and haven’t received this approval email within five business days, contact ESD's COVID Response Team at ESDGPHRCOVIDResponseTeam@ESD.WA.GOV.
  
  

Anyone who has applied for a medical or religious exemption will hear from HR this week. Accommodation process could take a week longer.
We’re working as quickly as we can. We understand that you want and need to know as soon as possible.

The accommodation process will take a little longer for some of you. However, we promise you’ll know our decision about your exemption request this week.

• If we approve your exemption, and your management approves full-time teleworking as an accommodation, you’ll receive an email from HR confirming both. These accommodations should be complete by Friday, Sept. 24.
• If we approve your exemption, but management determines your position is not eligible for full-time telework, HR will review a position vacancy list to determine if you can be reassigned to a vacant position at your current salary range or lower. This process will be complete by Sept. 30.

For detailed information about the exemption and accommodation process, see the Vaccination requirement page.

An agency decision about accommodations and why we made it
Your health and safety are our number priorities. For that reason, we decided that we will not authorize unvaccinated employees to work in building-dependent positions where they are in close contact with co-workers or customers.

That means: If we approve your exemption request but you work in a building-dependent position in close contact with people, we won’t be able to accommodate you in this position. Instead, we would look for an option to reassign you to another position. We may or may not find a vacant position, and if we do, we can’t guarantee you’ll receive your current salary.

Why did we make this decision? Unvaccinated staff in other state agencies have contracted COVID on the job, even when PPE and social distancing guidelines were in place. The state Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control show that risk of transmission and severe reaction from COVID are both significantly higher for unvaccinated adults. We simply don’t want anyone to contract COVID at work — or anywhere.

Where you can — and shouldn’t — complain about the vaccine mandate
Colleagues: ESD has no control over the vaccine mandate; we can only implement it. We know some of you feel immense frustration with the mandate, but please don’t send emails to the COVID Response Team about it. We can’t do anything to change it, and your emails are taking time away from HR’s priorities: verifying your vaccination status, and processing exemption and accommodation requests.

A better place to send your complaints would be to the Governor's Office.

Thank you for understanding. We know everyone is tired. Hang in there, ESD.

Thank you,

Michaela