Employee News - October 1, 2020

King County Employees sent this bulletin at 10/01/2020 03:10 PM PDT

A service of the King County Department of Human Resources

Highlights

Celebrating Disability Awareness Month in King County

Each October, we celebrate Disability Awareness Month in King County and the many contributions that people with disabilities make to our community.

Every person deserves the opportunity to fulfil their potential, share their unique abilities, and fully participate in everything that our region has to offer. Disability Awareness Month reminds us that we must continue to break down barriers to promote inclusion and expand opportunity for all people with disabilities.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the urgency of this work. COVID-19 is having a disproportionate impact on people with disabilities who are experiencing higher rates of unemployment, reduced access to in-person care and support services, and challenges with online learning and receiving special education services. People with disabilities are also more likely to have preexisting health conditions, amplifying the risk of the virus. Read more.

New Climate Action Toolkit will help King County cities develop customized climate strategies, mobilizing the region’s efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions

A new Climate Action Toolkit created by King County and King County-Cities Climate Collaboration will provide local governments with practical guidance on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for both government operations and at the community-wide scale, spur the growth of an equitable clean energy economy, and preserve our natural environment.

If approved by the King County Council, the toolkit that King Executive Dow Constantine announced today will be available at no cost to all 39 cities. It is designed to be a flexible guide for cities in all stages of climate planning to help them develop customized climate strategies.

“The Climate Action Toolkit will help mobilize cities throughout King County, uniting our efforts to rapidly cut greenhouse gas emissions and prepare our region for climate impacts,” said Executive Constantine.

Announcements

Internship program takes off despite COVID

Crossposted from the DES Express

Even with the COVID-19 pandemic, King County International Airport’s internship program continued this spring and summer, with a twist, thanks to an innovative new partnership between the airport and the Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS).

“We are very excited to keep the internship program running this summer despite the challenges,” said Mohamed Nimeri, Managing Engineer. “Thank you, Eric and Kevin, for leading this effort!”

Eric Miller and Kevin Nuechterlein, both capital project managers at KCIA, led the development of the new internship program. While many activities were shutting down this spring, the internship program was beginning, thanks to a connection Nuechterlein made in 2019. Read more.

Get Up and get moving! Let Balanced You know what type of virtual exercise classes you want

We heard from employees that you wanted to be able to exercise at home while telecommuting. So, Balanced You, in partnership with our vendor Vivecorp, is offering free, live virtual fitness classes to King County employees! But first, we need your feedback so we know what type of classes you are interested in. Please take a few minutes to fill out this short survey. Let us know the types of classes you're interested in and when you'd like to see them offered. Contact balancedyou@kingcounty.gov for more information.

Sign up now for October Mental Health First Aid@Work Trainings

Mental health is an important part of overall health and well-being that can often be misunderstood or overlooked. To increase awareness about mental health and highlight supportive resources, Balanced You has partnered with the National Council of Behavioral Health to offer Mental Health First Aid@Work trainings. These trainings are available to all County employees, free-of-charge.

As we transition our county’s pandemic response into the autumn and prepare for the mental health crisis that experts warn is ahead, Balanced You urges employees to consider participating in the Mental Health First Aid@Work training so we can all better support each other. Visit this Balanced You blogpost for more information on trainings, including dates and registration links.

Fall and winter mindfulness class schedule now available

Mindfulness is a practice that can support you in reducing stress at work and at home. Mindfulness techniques are especially useful now, as we move through the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic.

Balanced You continues to partner with Mindfulness Northwest to offer free mindfulness classes and workshops to King County employees, via both employee-specific and community classes. In alignment with social distancing recommendations, all in-person classes have temporarily shifted to online platforms.

For the fall and winter, we have expanded our mindfulness class menu to include classes for employees involved in the COVID-19 response, classes for parents, classes for mindful eating, classes for emotional resilience, and more. Visit this Balanced You blogpost for details and registration links.

Lunch and Learn Sessions for Disability Awareness Month, October 7 and 21

In celebration of October as National Disability Awareness Month, the Department of Human Resources is hosting two Lunch and Learn discussions that focus on Race and Disability, to be held via Zoom. We will begin our discussion with a short video and then an open dialogue facilitated by Workforce Equity Manager Gloria Ngezaho, and employees Jennifer Greenlee, Lili Stansberry and Christina Davidson. All King County employees are welcome to join.

Lunch and Learn, Wednesday, Oct. 7 from noon to 1 p.m. – Discussion on the intersection of Race and Disability
Lunch and Learn, Wednesday, Oct. 21 from noon to 1 p.m. - Discussion on Media Representation of Race and Disability

To register and for more information, email Christina Davidson at
Christina.Davidson@kingcounty.gov. You will receive an Outlook calendar event with the Zoom link upon registration.

Virtual Zero Waste Conference, October 7 and 8

The International Living Future Institute is happy to invite you to the Zero Carbon Conference! This inaugural event will feature experts from around the world who understand the need for equitable decarbonization in the built environment. Join this virtual event to learn about the technology, materials, and financing needed to pave the way for scalable decarbonization. It’s more important than ever to bring carbon emissions down and change the status quo for the built environment.

The keynote speakers at this event will be Tom Steyer, who is well known for his climate activism and political grassroots organizing, and Georges C. Benjamin, a well known health policy leader, practitioner and administrator.

Wednesday, Oct. 7, and Thursday, Oct. 8, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Register here.

The virtual event is $450 for government rate. For more information, contact Nori Catabay at nori.catabay@kingcounty.gov or contact the event organizers directly at events@living-future.org.

Employment Transition – online, October 8 and multiple dates

King County experts will provide important information about the resources and services that are available to employees who are facing a layoff. Topics covered include: Career Support Services, Priority Placement Program, Employee Assistance Program, Making Life Easier Program, Balanced You and Benefits. There will also be time for you to ask questions. This is a voluntary virtual meeting.

This workshop will be held via Zoom Tuesday, Oct. 8 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Register here.

Additional courses are available on the Career Support Services training page. For questions or more information visit www.kingcounty.gov/CSS or contact Career Support Services at CareerSupportServices@kingcounty.gov.

Training Spotlight opportunities from Learning and Development

Communication and Problems Solving Skills, online – Facilitated by Lenny Borer, this three-day training is $65 and takes place from 9-11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, Oct. 13, 14, and 15. Register here.
QuickBooks Level 1, online – Offered through North Seattle College this class is $85 and takes place over two sessions on Oc. 15 and 22. 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.

Tech Tip: Clearing your cache to access the new and improved PeopleSoft

PeopleSoft was upgraded over the weekend. Just a reminder that users may experience PeopleSoft performance issues after this update. The system may be missing homepages, freeze, or show a spinning wheel for an extended period of time. Confirm that you are using a valid web browser, and then follow these instructions to delete temporary internet files (also called cache).