Workspan Daily News Bytes for Sept. 25, 2026

DoorDash to Pay $131M for Underpaying NYC Delivery Workers

DoorDash, the app-based food delivery platform, has reached a $131.5 million settlement with New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) over compliance with the pay rules for delivery workers.

The settlement with the city includes $12.3 million for workers who were underpaid or paid late and more than $83 million to resolve a disagreement over how to calculate pay for time workers spend online between deliveries. In addition, DCWP is receiving $16.7 million in fines owed to them as part of the settlement.

The funds will provide relief to more than 260,000 workers who were allegedly underpaid by DoorDash, including workers who were not paid at all or were paid late for work they had already performed.

In a statement, DoorDash said they “screwed up,” and the mistakes weren’t intentional. The company stated errors were the result of technical issues or happened in complicated situations: deliveries that crossed city boundaries, had multiple pickup or dropoff locations, or were only partially fulfilled or cancelled.

Workers will begin receiving payments this fall.

The settlement also establishes a worker-driven compliance monitoring program designed to help the city identify and address violations quickly. The new program will include monthly data reports, worker-driven data collection and software updates.

How CHROs Are Responding to AI-Driven Changes in the Workforce

Sixty percent of employees worry artificial intelligence (AI) is eroding their skills, with critical thinking cited most often as declining, according to new global survey of 1,500 CHROs and 8,800 employees by the IBM Institute for Business Value.

While 71% of CHROs identified the ability to supervise, validate and override AI outputs as the workforce’s most essential skill, only 29% of employees ranked judgment as important.

Organizations that clearly defined workflows as human-led, AI-assisted or AI-executed achieved 18% risk reduction and 20% quality improvement. Yet, 46% of organizations do not involve the CHRO when the AI strategy is being defined.

CHROs rated HR’s capabilities particularly low in AI literacy across the team (13%), AI performance measurement (16%) and change management for AI adoption (20%).

Other key findings from the study include:

72% of organizations made limited or no use of AI inside the HR function.
62% of CHROs reported growing employee confidence in AI-enabled decisions; where it was not, 57% reported confidence declining.
49% of employees and 57% of CHROs said critical thinking and problem framing were among the skills that matter most in the AI era.
36% of CHROs said unclear accountability complicates AI deployment.

“As AI takes on more routine and process-driven tasks, uniquely human capabilities become even more important,” said Nickle LaMoreaux, a senior vice president and the CHRO at IBM. “CHROs have a critical role to play in redesigning the workplace of the future so people can focus on the areas where they can have the greatest impact.”

More Small Businesses Are Offering Employees Retirement Plans

Thirty-one percent of small businesses in the U.S. are now offering a retirement plan for their employees, up from 19% in 2019, according to new research by HR software company Gusto. The data focused on private-sector businesses with two to 99 employees, observed from 2019 through June 2026.

The report’s key findings included:

The share of small hospitality businesses with an active plan tripled since 2019, from 4% to 12%. Recreation rose 147% and agriculture 122%.
The share of hourly workers with a retirement plan at work rose 79%, from 21% to 38%, while salaried access rose 24%. Counting both access and participation, the share of hourly workers actually saving through work more than doubled, from 7% to 17%.
While the overall savings rate declined among small business employees, most can be attributed to an increase in the share of hourly workers saving for retirement. This finding suggests a compositional shift that shows the breadth of new 401(k) access to workers throughout the economy.

“The growth reached industries where retirement plans were once rare, it was steepest among the smallest employers, and it landed most heavily on hourly workers, who went from less than half as likely as salaried workers to have a plan available to nearly three quarters as likely,” Gusto Insights head Nich Tremper said in his analysis. “State mandates account for a real share of that change without accounting for all of it.”

Morgan Stanley Staffer Reportedly Leaked Asia Deals Email

According to published reports, global financial services company Morgan Stanley recently experienced a communications gaffe when a staffer accidentally leaked an internal document listing more than 100 investment-banking deals the firm is pitching and monitoring in Asia.

The list, dated Sept. 21, contained ‌about ⁠60 live initial public offering, merger and/or acquisition, and block trade deals across China, South Korea, Southeast Asia, India and the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) region.

Morgan Stanley responded to the incident in a statement to Reuters, saying it takes client confidentiality extremely seriously.

“We promptly took steps to address this inadvertent sharing of information, and we continue to engage with relevant parties,” the New York-based firm said.

Figures and Facts of the Week

4,000: The number of jobs automaker Jaguar Land Rover will cut over the next two years. The cuts will mostly affect the head office, which is based in the United Kingdom. The company cited Chinese competition, U.S. tariffs and the transition to electric vehicles as the reasons behind the decision.
85: The percentage of global workers who said their employer actively encourages exploration and experimentation with AI, yet only 58% understood how the technology was being used to reach company goals, according to a new report by employee experience platform Culture Amp.
78: The percentage of senior HR leaders, talent acquisition managers, and learning and development experts concerned about the long-term loss of critical leadership skills due to AI, according to a new survey by talent management solution provider Talogy.
71: The percentage of U.S. adults who believe AI will cause job losses over the next two decades, according to a new report from Pew Research Center. The concern was more common among young adults (those ages 18 to 34) than older adults (those over the age of 50).
59: The percentage of U.S. adults who said health insurance companies should always provide full coverage for mental health counseling tailored for pregnancy and postpartum, according to a 2026 State of Maternal Health Report conducted by The Harris Poll.
59: The percentage of U.S. workers who have encountered a job posting, recruiter or hiring message they believed was fraudulent, a scam or misleading, according to a survey by career website MyPerfectResume.
56: The percentage of workers who say no time is allocated during work hours to build AI skills (84% spend five hours or less per week on development), according to new research released by AI skills intelligence platform Workera.
46: The percentage of U.S. workers who would work for their former employer again after being laid off, according to a 2026 Layoff Experience Report by career website Zety.
46: The percentage of respondents in the U.S. who said they are uncomfortable with AI being used in payroll processes, according to a new survey by PayrollOrg, a payroll education and training company.