Executive Constantine proclaims 2024 National Payroll Week
King County Executive Dow Constantine has proclaimed Sept. 2 through Sept. 6 as National Payroll Week, and recognizes the important role of King County's payroll professionals.
“King County payroll professionals play a key role in maintaining the economic health of the County, in ensuring the economic security of families by carrying out diverse tasks such as processing paychecks, payments to child support, and tax withholding, reporting, and depositing,” Executive Constantine said in the Proclamation.
Read the full proclamation here.
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Onsite King County flu and COVID-19 clinics
King County is making it easy for employees to get protected by offering multiple onsite flu and COVID shot clinics at County worksites. Getting your flu and COVID-19 shots are an important part of protecting your health, your family’s health, and your community’s health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone six months and older get a flu shot and COVID-19 shot every year. Flu shots have many important benefits; getting a flu shot can reduce your risk of getting the flu, help protect vulnerable populations, and conserve health care resources.
Each year, King County’s Balanced You arranges onsite flu and COVID-19 shot clinics for employees who work onsite. Find more information about locations, times, and how to schedule an appointment here.
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Sustainability and support mark a summer of meaningful advocacy for Department of Public Defense interns
Cecilia Atkins, a rising 3L student at Michigan Law, chose to spend her summer internship at the King County Department of Public Defense (DPD) largely because of Washington’s unique Rule 9 licensure that allows supervised students to speak on the record. At the start of the 10-week program, she took over a handful of cases from a public defender who rotated into felonies from practicing in Seattle Municipal Court.
Although Cecilia had heard from classmates at Michigan who had interned at DPD that she’d have the support from supervisors and non-attorney staff to provide the high-quality representation her clients deserved, taking on more clients than she’d ever represented in a clinic seemed daunting at first. Then, she started meeting the people whose interests she spent the summer working to serve.
“I had so many concerns about telling [my clients] that I’m an intern, but they have been incredibly trusting. I’ve been lucky to work with so many clients who are incredibly kind people.” Read more.
Pictured: DPD’s Rule 9 interns gather outside the Dexter Horton Building in downtown Seattle.
Fall and winter vaccines: Q&A with Dr. Eric Chow
Crossposted from Public Health Insider
We are going to see more respiratory illnesses in the coming months with kids going back to school, more people working in person, and folks spending more time indoors. COVID-19 already has a head start. This summer we are seeing a wave happening across the country, and King County’s no exception. Here’s the good news: updated vaccines for the 2024-2025 respiratory illness season are starting to arrive in pharmacies and clinics and they’ll soon be widely available. Keeping up to date on vaccinations gives you and your loved ones the best protection for a healthy fall and winter.
We sat down with Dr. Eric Chow, Chief of Communicable Disease Epidemiology & Immunization for Public Health, to learn about the 2024-2025 immunizations for COVID-19, influenza (flu), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Read more.
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Register now for September retirement classes
Check out the upcoming educational opportunities below to help you learn about—and prepare for—retirement. Please note, attendance at retirement classes is strictly voluntary, on your own time, and non-work related.
Use the links below to register for the following online classes provided by your King County Retirement Team. For additional information, visit the King County Retirement page, read the Retirement Guide, or contact Carmen Johnson, retirement navigator.
Your PERS Pension: Sept. 11 at 11 a.m. Learn about your Washington State Department of Retirement Systems (DRS) pension. Guest speaker Stacy Rundle from DRS will discuss your options as a King County employee and answer your questions. Register for Your PERS Pension
Road to Retirement: Sept. 17 at 10 a.m. and Sept. 24 at 1 p.m. This class is designed for employees who are planning to retire from King County in the next six months. It covers procedures, forms, medical coverage options, and pension plans—so you’ll be on a smooth road toward a happy retirement. Register for Road to Retirement.
To register for the following Deferred Compensation Plan education sessions, go to T. Rowe Price Education Sessions. For more information, go to the Deferred Compensation Plan web page or contact KC Deferred Comp.
Saving for Retirement: Deferred Comp Basics, Sept. 6: at 8 a.m., 10 a.m., and 12 p.m. Join this session to learn the basics of retirement savings, how to use your plan to build a retirement savings strategy and how T. Rowe Price can help you save, invest, and plan for the kind of retirement you want.
Visualize Retirement: Sept. 20 at 8 a.m., 10 a.m., and 12 p.m. This session is intended to help you visualize your retirement. Putting money aside now for a future date may be more meaningful to you if you have a good idea of what you’re saving for.
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Morgan Stanley emails and workshops are not associated with King County
Recently, several employees have reported receiving emails from Morgan Stanley Wealth Management regarding workshops for public employees. Please be aware, Morgan Stanley is not associated with King County or any of its employee retirement or financial plans.
For security purposes, it is recommended that you do not give out any personal information to anyone you did not first contact, and use caution when using links in an unsolicited email.
You can find more information about King County retirement and financial plans and services here:
If you have additional questions about your benefits or retirement, please contact Benefits, Payroll and Retirement Operations at KC.Benefits@KingCounty.gov or 206-684-1556.
Records Management Reminder: Transitory records should be routinely destroyed
As government employees, we are bound by various laws and policies that describe what we need to do with our records. The good news is that many of our records are considered transitory. This means that they do not have retention value and can and should be destroyed as soon as they are no longer needed.
Some examples of transitory records:
- Accepted meeting notices
- Out-of-office replies
- Cherwell ticket notifications
- Spam
- Personal / Non-work related records
- Newsletters you receive (including this one!)
- Emails you are CC’d on that do not require or result in an action from you
- External reference material
- Most drafts
- Most duplicate copies
Best practice for transitory records:
- Destroy or delete transitory records as soon as you notice them
- Where possible, delete them in bulk (for example: sort your Outlook folder by sender/From to locate groups of transitory records)
- Retain them sparingly
- But if you want to keep them as reference, store them separately from other records
- Avoid creating or sending transitory records in the first place
For more information, visit the county’s Records Management Program website or contact them at records.management@kingcounty.gov. The Records Management Program, in the Department of Executive Services, provides guidance, resources, and training to all King County employees to assist them with managing King County’s public records according to state and local legal requirements and best practices.
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Training Spotlights:
Building Gender Inclusive Spaces (BGIS): Supporting Trans & Non-Binary People in the Workplace – Online – In this three-hour workshop, participants will learn about the long history of gender diverse peoples across the globe, foundational knowledge of gender and sexuality, and best practices to support a gender diverse workforce. Participants will have the opportunity to move through real-life scenarios, apply their understanding of pronoun use, and develop strategies to advance gender equity at King County. Our next session still has openings!
Leader Mindset – Online – This workshop for King County supervisors and managers sets a foundation that leading a team starts with understanding yourself and your responsibility to create a team culture of belonging where all employees can thrive. In this interactive webinar, participants will take part in engaging activities, small group discussions and action planning.
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.
Tech Tip: Watch out for smishing!
What it is: Many companies, products, and services have started offering text message alerts to keep you up to date. Scammers are aware of these alerts and they’re taking advantage of unsuspecting individuals. They send a text with dangerous links, or prompt you to respond with personal information by posing as your bank, an online account, or other service–to name a few examples. This Short Message Service (SMS) or text-based phishing scam is called Smishing, and the bad guys have taken a liking to it.
How it works: The following are only a couple of examples. The bad guys are constantly coming up with new ways to “smish” you: Use this Link: Scammers pose as a familiar company or service and send shocking alerts such as – “Your account has been locked due to multiple failed logins.” – accompanied by a link to supposedly resolve the issue. Smishing links can contain malware that instantly installs if you made the mistaking of clicking. This malware can contain keystroke-logging software or permit access to your applications and files – making it easy to steal your identity or hold your files for ransom. Call this Phone Number: Smishing attacks often try to persuade you into calling a number by telling you there’s been an issue with your account or that suspicious activity has been detected. A scammer will be ready to take your call and persuade you into providing personal information or making a payment. Think before you tap!
- Remember that government agencies, banks, or any other legitimate business will never request sensitive information over a text message.
- Take your time. Much like email phishing, texting scammers will often use the social engineering tactic of creating a false sense of urgency in their message.
- Never click on any links or call any phone numbers in unexpected texts. Contact the company directly if you’d like to verify the text message.
Featured Job: Data Systems Team Manager
Salary: $121,576.00 - $154,107.20 Annually
Location: Chinook Building, 401 5th Avenue Seattle, WA
Job Type: Career Service, Full Time, 40 hrs/week
Job Number: 2024SD22584
Department: DPH - Public Health
Division: Prevention
Opening Date: 8/27/2024
Closing Date: 9/15/2024 11:59 p.m.
FLSA: Exempt
Bargaining Unit: Z3: KC Personnel Guidelines
This Data Systems Team Manager position is a leadership position within the Analytics & Informatics Branch of the Communicable Disease Epidemiology and Immunization (CD-Imms) Section in Public Health – Seattle & King County’s Prevention Division. This position offers a unique opportunity to collaborate on innovative projects and contribute to the development of novel systems in the data modernization field. They will manage and expand the Section’s informatics and analytic data streams for notifiable communicable diseases and immunizations. Responsibilities include overseeing surveillance data projects, grants, and studies, as well as providing direct supervision, engagement, and mentorship to team staff. The role will represent the Section and collaborate across teams to advance King County’s efforts toward the data modernization initiative. This position reports to the Analytics and Informatics Branch Manager.
Learn more about this position or view all available positions.
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