PeopleSoft outage begins Friday, June 28 at 3 p.m.
To allow for system maintenance, the PeopleSoft system will not be available the weekend of June 28 through June 30.
During this planned outage, the Business Resource Center (BRC) will apply vendor updates and maintenance. This work will begin on Friday, June 28 at 3 p.m. and is scheduled to be completed on Monday, July 1 by 6:30 a.m.
The system will not be available for access by any County staff during this outage window. There will be a communication sent out to all County staff when the system becomes available.
We realize that this outage impacts all PeopleSoft users, and we appreciate your understanding and support.
|
Recipient of Best-Run Government Innovation Award helps Fall City community
The Fall City Waste Management System has been honored as the winner of the 2023 Best-Run Government Innovation Award for Climate and Environmental Stewardship. Congratulations to the Department of Local Services (DLS), Public Health – Seattle & King County (DPH), and all their partners for their commitment to Best-Run Government!
“I was thrilled to learn that the Fall City Septic System project had won an Executive Best-Run Government Climate Award,” says John Taylor, Department of Natural Resources and Parks (DNRP) Director and former DLS Director. “It’s been a passion project of mine since the start since it not only supports the sustainability of the Fall City business district, but also leads to cleaner water and a cleaner environment. It required working with Public Health, Roads, District 3 Councilmembers, and the Fall City Community Association to make it a reality. When we put our minds together and work as one King County with community, we can solve intractable problems.” Read more.
|
Innovation Section receives award for wildlife excellence
Crossposted from the Plane Talk Newsletter
King County International Airport recently received an award from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Washington State office for a project promoting wildlife excellence. Dave Decoteau, Deputy Director of the airport, accepted the award on KCIA’s behalf at the 2024 Washington Airport Management Association Annual Conference in May.
The airport’s Innovation Section received the award for partnering with the USDA to develop the Wildlife Hazard Assessment Tool (WHAT) application.
“It is an application for capturing wildlife observations on our airfield,” said Vanessa Chin, Innovation Section Manager for the airport. “This tool will help provide the USDA and our airport with information and trends on wildlife (like birds, bunnies, etc.) to help us better understand our options to deter or migrate wildlife away from airside.”
“The Washington State the USDA has been looking for a while to manage wildlife data across all airports in the state,” Chin said. “Ultimately, life safety is our highest concern, casualties may occur if a plane ingests a bird.” Read more.
Pictured: From left, Dave Decoteau, Deputy Director; Ricky Buchanan, Business Analyst and Vanessa Chin, Innovation Section Manager, at King County International Airport.
|
Crossposted from the DES Express
Congratulations to Julie Wing, Inventory Specialist in Fleet Services, on her 40th anniversary with King County! In September 1983, the month after she turned 20, she started a temporary position in the Facilities Management Division as an office assistant. Initially she handled general administration and payroll. Her official anniversary date is April 16, 1984, the date she started a career service position in the Facilites Management Division.
Wing has held a number of jobs at the county, from office technician to electrician’s helper in the King County Correctional Facility. She has been a Utility Worker II, Lead Worker, an acting Environmental Supervisor, a Site Development Specialist I and an Inventory Purchasing Specialist I.
Wing has seen quite a bit of change over 40 years. Read more.
|
Use Audit ID from Mercer to verify your covered family members’ eligibility by July 29
If you cover a family member on your King County medical, dental, or vision plan, look for your Audit ID and instructions for completing the required dependent eligibility verification process sent from Mercer Consulting by mail and email.
King County and its labor unions have engaged trusted vendor Mercer Consulting to conduct a routine eligibility audit to manage regulatory compliance and health insurance costs.
If you deleted the email from Mercer: If you deleted or reported the Mercer email as phishing, you should still receive future notices from Mercer. If you cover a family member on your employee medical, dental, or vision plan, and you did not receive an email from Mercer, look for the letter sent to your mailing address.
If you can’t find your Audit ID: If you didn’t receive an email or letter from Mercer with your Audit ID, please call Mercer at 866-703-3763.
If you don’t have the documents required for verification: For Washington births and marriages, see information about obtaining official documents here. Outside of Washington, an official certificate of every birth, death, marriage, and divorce should be on file in the state, city, or county where the event occurred. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists contacts for each U.S. state and territory. You can also use VitalChek. For a copy of your tax return, go to the IRS website or call the IRS at 800-829-1040. Read more.
|
How to get copies of Washington marriage and birth certificates
King County and its labor unions have engaged trusted vendor Mercer Consulting to conduct a routine eligibility audit to manage regulatory compliance and health insurance costs.
Employees are required to review plan eligibility requirements and provide documentation supporting the eligibility of each dependent or indicate removal for any family member who is not eligible. Read more.
|
Join Metro for a FABULOUS Pride Parade!
Crossposted from Metro Matters
The Seattle Pride Parade is back on Sunday, June 30, and large crowds are expected to attend to honor our LGBTQIA+ community for their 50th year of gathering publicly here as an act of both celebration and collective resistance. We’re encouraging everyone to plan ahead if they are traveling to or around downtown Seattle.
Expect congestion and bus reroutes downtown
The parade starts at 11 a.m. on Fourth Avenue at Pike Street and travels north to Second Avenue and Denny Way. From about 7 a.m. until about 5 p.m., Fourth Avenue in downtown Seattle will be affected by street closures and traffic congestion associated with the parade. Transit service will be rerouted off Fourth Avenue. King County Metro bus routes 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 24, 26, 28, 33, 36, 40, 43, and 47 and Sound Transit bus routes ST 545 and ST 554 will be affected by this event. For information about these reroutes, visit our Service Advisories page for updated information. Read more.
|
Digital ORCA card changes not applicable to county employees
King County Metro recently announced that the ORCA card is available in Google Wallet, but it is important to clarify this change does not apply to King County employees.
The King County employee dual-chip badge has this functionality disabled due to security, administrative, and logistical concerns. Many other regional employers who provide transit passes have also chosen to disable this function.
In short, this means that King County employee cards cannot be added to the Google Wallet because the physical card is still needed for building access. The option is also not available in any other digital wallet or other operating system at this time. Please do not contact King County Facilities Management Division (FMD) as they will be unable to help with this issue.
Employees interested in utilizing this new ORCA feature can do so with a separate personal ORCA card, but please note that your employee ORCA ID/badge is good for commuting and personal use. For questions about how to use a personal ORCA card on Google Pay, visit https://info.myorca.com/GooglePay.
|
With COVID-19 on the rise, remember to stay home if sick
King County is currently experiencing an uptick in COVID-19 infections. Please remember to stay home when you’re sick with COVID-19 or any common respiratory illness, including influenza (flu) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). We value your work here, but it won’t help anyone if you spread your illness to your co-workers. If you are sick, please follow your agency’s sick leave request and approval protocols and stay home.
When you are sick, stay home and away from other people (including minimizing close contact with those in your home who are not sick) until:
- You don’t have a fever (and you are no longer using medications for fever like Tylenol) for at least 24 hours, AND
- Your symptoms have improved for at least 24 hours.
When you go back to normal activities, take extra precautions, including wearing a well-fitting, high-quality mask and physical distancing for five days when you will be around other people indoors. Wash your hands often and clean regularly. Read more.
|
FSA mid-year check
We’re halfway through 2024, and it’s a good time to check your Flexible Spending Account (FSA) balances and take steps to make sure you spend your remaining funds before the end of the year. Here’s some additional reminders:
Health Care FSAs
- Use Health Care FSA funds to purchase summer-related items such as sunscreen, first aid kits, and prescription sunglasses.
- Schedule any necessary back-to-school check-ups and sports physicals if you have children.
- Many over-the-counter items are FSA-eligible, such as pain relievers, cold and allergy medicine, antacids, and feminine care. See the complete list of Health Care FSA Eligible & Ineligible Expenses. You can also shop online at the FSA Store.
- This year, you can roll over up to $640 of unused funds into next year. Any other remaining funds in your account are forfeited.
Day Care FSAs
- Use your Day Care FSA to pay for day care or dependent care expenses for your child under age 13, disabled spouse, or dependent parent so you can work or attend school full-time.
- Day Care FSA funds can also be used to pay eligible family members to watch your children.
- Online or virtual day cares and camps are not eligible for reimbursement, according to IRS regulations. See the complete list of Day Care FSA Eligible & Ineligible Expenses.
- If you do not use all your Day Care FSA funds within the plan year (Jan. 1—Dec. 31, 2024), any remaining funds will be forfeited.
For additional information, go to Flexible Spending Accounts. If you have questions about your FSA benefits, contact Navia Benefit Solutions at 425-452-3500 or email Navia Benefit Solutions.
|
Attention Active&Fit members
Thank you to every Regence or Kaiser Permanente subscriber who joined the Active&Fit Direct gym program over last year. Please know that on July 1, 2024, Active&Fit is making a policy change to your membership. Learn more.
|
Our top priority is your safety and security at work, and we are continuing to partner with law enforcement, community, and other governments to ensure a safer, more welcoming environment in and around our facilities.
This video gives tips on how to respond to a theft or attempted theft, and to call 9-1-1 in an emergency. To report a non-emergency incident, contact FMD Security at 206-296-5000, email FMD.Security@kingcounty.gov, or file an incident report at www.kingcounty.gov/IncidentReport.
Check out the video below and watch for additional videos with safety tips this year.
For more information on employee safety programs and resources, see the Future of Work Personal Safety at Work intranet page (employees only) and the Safety at Work page.
Training Spotlights:
Equity and Leadership Webinar – Online – Created in partnership with the Office of Equity and Social Justice, Equity and Leadership is designed to support participants’ ability to recognize the role that race and racism have on disparities in our workforce and to understand the responsibility for people leaders to create racially equitable work environments for their teams.
Leading for Well-being – Online – Manager support is the most effective way to inspire well-being in the workplace. Workers who feel their employers prioritize workplace well-being are more engaged, more likely to stay, and more likely to recommend the company to others. Leading for Well-being is a live King County virtual workshop that provides leaders the skills needed to continue to integrate well-being and belonging as foundational pieces of their leadership for effective teams and a thriving workforce.
-
Thursday, July 25, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Enroll here.
Please visit our King County Eventbrite website, our Learning and Development website, and our Career Support Services website for more learning opportunities. For more information, contact the Learning and Development Team at KCTraining@kingcounty.gov or visit Learning and Development at www.kingcounty.gov/learning.
Pets of the Week: Beetle and Salamander
Hi, we are Beetle and Salamander and we are available for adoption. Beetle, ID #A708881, is an 11-week-old female domestic short hair cat, colored torbie and gray. Salamander, ID #A708880, is a 13-week-old female domestic short hair cat, colored torbie. They are to be adopted together and seem to do well with other cats.
Due to severe damage to their eyes, Beetle had both eyes removed and cannot see, and Salamander has one eye removed and limited vision in the other. Blind cats can live full, happy lives despite their disability, with many owners reporting that they act like they still have vision. A loving home for Beetle and Salamander will help them adjust by keeping consistent environments, keeping them only indoors, and making sure that other pets and children are respectful of their needs. Additional care for their conditions may be needed after adoption, and owners will need to followup with their veterinarian.
As Pets of the Week, our adoption fee has been reduced. You can find out more about us and our other friends on our website at www.kingcounty.gov/adoptapet. If you have more questions, you can contact RASKC via phone at 206-296-7387 (PETS) or email pets@kingcounty.gov.
Featured Job: Senior Wastewater Utility Planner - CSO Program
Salary: $99,673.60 - $126,339.20 Annually
Location: Seattle, WA
Job Type: Career Service, Full-time, 40 hrs/week
Job Number: 2024-22001
Department: DNRP-Natural Resources & Parks
Division: Wastewater Treatment
Opening Date: 6/24/2024
Closing Date: 7/08/2024 11:59 p.m.
FLSA: Exempt
Bargaining Unit: W4 : TEA-WTD, DNRP-Staff
WTD's Combined System and Utility Planning Group is looking for a career service Senior - Wastewater Utility Planner (WQPPM III) who wants to work for an organization that empowers continued learning, values work/life balance, and works to support thriving, resilient neighborhoods, and communities in the Puget Sound region. The planning groups develop, update, and track implementation of investment plans for King County’s regional wastewater agency and this is a great opportunity for someone who enjoys working in a highly collaborative team setting.
This position will serve as a senior planner for the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) control planning program. This program develops long range plans for controlling combined sewer overflow discharges while working with staff at Seattle Public Utilities, other governments, environmental groups, regulators, and the public. This program also implements some CSO control activities and develops conceptual projects that progress into project delivery and drives large capital investments in WTD’s infrastructure. This position will work independently at the senior level under a program manager to develop and lead decision making processes, develop technical information, and develop necessary documentation for decision making and to comply with regulatory requirements. This position will also provide project guidance and work item support to mid-level staff within related programs.
Learn more about this position or view all available positions.
King County Headlines
Public Health Insider: How you can get support for children with asthma
Cultivating Connections: Save the date! Join us on August 22nd for the VSHSL Summit
GIS and You: Extraction of Tree Crowns Using 2021 LiDAR for King County
|
