Welcome in, today is Friday, September fourth, and we begin with HR Executive's reporting on Uber pairing a third restructuring with a firmer in-office rule. Following our earlier report on Uber flattening its management ranks, HR Executive puts that cut in a wider frame. That account describes it as the company's third restructuring of twenty twenty-six, cutting management layers while reinforcing its in-office policy. Two levers moving together is what makes this portable, since return-to-office debates inside other companies now have a large employer folding structure into the rationale. Industry reaction focuses less on the ten percent than on the target, managers carrying only one or two direct reports. Some org-design practitioners read that as an early template other large employers may copy. A recurring counterpoint is that span-of-control numbers understate real scope, and that cutting those roles removes a common stepping stone into management. Also today, a federal appeals court has narrowed how far a labor board dress-code order reaches. Courthouse News Service reports the Second Circuit declined to enforce a National Labor Relations Board order covering Starbucks policies on issue pins and logo shirts, finding it rested on a misreading of precedent. Per that reporting, the court asked the Board to apply a more evenly measured balancing test of company and union interests, and also declined to enforce the finding that a one-pin policy was an unfair labor practice. For employers drafting uniform and insignia rules, the standard is reset rather than settled, and the analysis goes back to the Board. HRD Canada and HRD Asia carry it as a rejection of a strict union clothing standard. Reaction in employment-law circles leans toward reading the outcome as a correction of regulatory reach, with a smaller counter-current framing it as courts narrowing labor protections. Separately, on pay. Building on our earlier coverage of the three point three percent budget figure for twenty twenty-seven, HR Dive now frames those projections as a fourth consecutive year of moderate increases. The same reporting carries Marsh saying compensation decisions often continue well beyond the annual merit cycle, which puts the leverage in off-cycle adjustments rather than the headline budget. Reaction leans toward reading the numbers as flat in real terms, with several noting the projected budgets sit at or near the current inflation rate. A recurring adjacent point is the contrast with employer health-cost projections running steeper, framed by some as the actual squeeze on total rewards. Staying with benefits, and following our earlier coverage of agency guidance on wellness surcharges, HR Executive reports the Labor Department is warning employers of a conflict in the rules governing tobacco wellness programs. Per that reporting, regulators will hold off on punishing employers that made a reasonable effort to follow the rules. Benefits teams running tobacco surcharges are left weighing current design against requirements that do not line up. Practitioner reaction reads the relief narrowly, with some emphasizing that paused enforcement is not legal safety, and a recurring framing treating it as a prompt to audit reasonable-alternative-standard mechanics across wellness incentives generally. Now, a few more headlines moving the trade today. Small-business job growth held steady in August, the Rochester Business Journal reports, with Paychex's jobs index at ninety-nine point one three, down a tenth of a point, and a sixth straight month of rising hours. HR Dive reports Kelly Services finds an acute skilled-worker shortage across data centers, and points to telecom and utility grid operations as adjacent recruiting pools. HR Dive reports a former Southern Company Services employee fired shortly after turning sixty has sued for age bias, alleging a supervisor said there were too many people over sixty. The claims are untested. Following our note on CHRO turnover, HR Executive reports Russell Reynolds counted one hundred fifty-five global CHRO appointments in twenty twenty-five, up from one hundred twenty-four, with S and P five hundred boards favoring experienced outsiders. And finally, HR Dive reports EY has earmarked one hundred million dollars in rewards for employees driving meaningful change through innovation, technology or growth.