New directive for employees to wear cloth face masks
Effective Wednesday, May 13, all Executive Branch employees must wear face coverings over their noses and mouths if they are likely to be in contact with another individual and distancing of six feet is not able to be maintained, per the Public Health Directive from the Seattle & King County Public Health Officer. The only exceptions are:
-
Any individual who has a physical disability that prevents easily wearing or removing a face covering;
-
Any individual who is deaf and uses facial and mouth movements as part of communication;
-
Any individual who has been advised by a medical professional that wearing a face covering may pose a risk to that individual health related reasons;
-
Any individual who has trouble breathing or is unconscious, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to remove the face covering without assistance.
This applies to Executive Branch employees. Employees in other branches of County government (definitions below) will receive guidance from their leaders. Read more.
|
Employees deploy to Shoreline site through Emergency Deployment
Program
The coronavirus has prompted employees to support King County’s effort to stop the virus by participating in the Emergency Deployment Program. The program fills emergency-related roles through temporary assignments at multiple locations throughout the County, including roughly 20 Isolation/Quarantine (I/Q) and Assessment/Recovery (AC/RC) sites.
To learn more about this important work, and the employees who have stepped forward to be a part of it, we interviewed three employees at the Shoreline Assessment and Recovery site: Chris Castleman, Anna Hughes, and Spencer Hensley. They each came on board early on in the County’s COVID-19 efforts. Read more.
New public health Directive requires masks or face coverings on transit
Starting Monday, May 18 until further notice, passengers are required to wear masks or face coverings while riding transit, according to a new Public Health Directive from Dr. Jeff Duchin, Public Health – Seattle & King County health officer, along with King County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle Mayor Jenny A. Durkan.
Additionally, Executive Dow Constantine has directed that all King County employees, including transit operators and crews, wear masks or face coverings when in public indoor spaces or outdoors when they are unable to social distance. Metro has already distributed two reusable, washable cloth face coverings to each of its 4,100 frontline employees, and similarly will provide cloth face coverings to its other employees, too. Read more.
|
Advice from EAP during Mental Health Month: Filling our self-compassion tanks
The coronavirus pandemic is challenging professionally and personally for all of us. Perhaps you’re frustrated with yourself because you’re struggling with computer technology or having difficulty learning new job skills. Or, if you’re a parent, perhaps you’re questioning your ability as you struggle to balance your child’s online and recreation schedule.
Self-compassion is a practice that can help reduce anxiety and lessen the critical thoughts we have about ourselves. Self-compassion means we hold compassion for our fear, we recognize how difficult this time is, and we do our best to be warm and caring toward ourselves. Visit the Balanced You blog for tips from EAP on cultivating self-compassion during challenging times.
|
Celebrating successful elections and honoring employees for Administrative Professionals Day
King County Elections held a virtual celebration to recognize the completion of four elections in February and March, as well as honor Administrative Professionals Day. Elections recognized the value of their administrative professionals pictured here: Robin Blake, Liwen (Lulu) Liu, and Alvin Dela Cruz.
|
Upcoming employee learning opportunity: The Get Better Mindset, May 13
This live event on KC eLearning will cover building resilience in the face of change and challenge - and how to benefit from a “Get Better” mindset. Topics include increasing risk appetite for personal growth and being less afraid of failure. This webcast features Dr. Heidi Grant of the Neuroleadership Institute.
|
Mental Health Month webinar: A Conversation on Self-Care, May 14
The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting everyone’s mental health in unique ways. Now, more than ever, self-care and connection are needed. In recognition of Mental Health Month, join Shawna Johnson, Balanced You Employee Health Specialist, and Heather Steffensen, Interim Employee Assistance Program Manager, for A Conversation on Self-Care. This live, interactive webinar will cover self-care strategies, techniques and tools to reduce stress and anxiety, and benefits and resources available to support King County employees’ mental health.
|
King County phishing test to protect data and files
Every day, cybercriminal make phishing attempts against King County employees. Some are successful. To help protect critical data and files, KCIT cybersecurity recently sent out simulated emails recently to test our defenses.
KCIT sent 14,523 simulated phishing emails out. Each employee received one simulated phishing email. Of those, 2,546 emails (17.5%) were opened, and 82.5% were not opened.
Of those 2,546 opened emails:
-
1,349 employees (53.1%) took an unsafe cyber action, while 46.9% did the right thing and took no unsafe actions.
-
495 employees (3.4%) clicked on a link in the email they received, and 96.6% did not.
Read more.
Featured job: Administrative Specialist II - Public Health Laboratory
Salary: $22.74 - $28.82 Hourly
Job Type: Special Duty Assignment or Term Limited Temp (TLT)
Department: DPH - Public Health
Closing: 5/15/2020 11:59 PM Pacific
KC Headlines
Tails from RASKC: An update on our services
|
