diff --git a/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/labels/helpers.rs b/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/labels/helpers.rs
index bf1a68ce..83ddf79d 100644
--- a/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/labels/helpers.rs
+++ b/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/labels/helpers.rs
@@ -1291,6 +1291,72 @@ pub fn collaborator_permission_floor(
     }
 }
 
+/// Elevate integrity via collaborator permission fallback for org repos.
+///
+/// Rank threshold for writer-level integrity (none=1, reader=2, writer=3, merged=4).
+const WRITER_RANK: u8 = 3;
+
+/// Attempt to elevate integrity for an author in an org-owned repository
+/// by checking their effective collaborator permission.
+///
+/// When `author_association` gives insufficient integrity (below writer level),
+/// this function checks the user's effective permission via the GitHub
+/// collaborator permission API. This correctly handles org owners/admins whose
+/// `author_association` is reported as "NONE" because their access is inherited
+/// through org ownership rather than direct collaboration.
+///
+/// Backend calls are cached per-user, so repeated lookups for the same author
+/// across list/search items are inexpensive.
+///
+/// Parameters:
+/// - `author_login`: the issue/PR/commit author's GitHub login
+/// - `repo_full_name`: "owner/repo" string
+/// - `resource_label`: label for logging (e.g. "issue", "pr", "commit")
+/// - `resource_id`: number or identifier for logging
+/// - `integrity`: current integrity labels to potentially elevate
+/// - `ctx`: policy context
+///
+/// Returns the (potentially elevated) integrity labels.
+pub fn elevate_via_collaborator_permission(
+    author_login: &str,
+    repo_full_name: &str,
+    resource_label: &str,
+    resource_id: &str,
+    integrity: Vec<String>,
+    ctx: &PolicyContext,
+) -> Vec<String> {
+    if integrity_rank(repo_full_name, &integrity, ctx) >= WRITER_RANK || author_login.is_empty() {
+        return integrity;
+    }
+    let (owner, repo) = match repo_full_name.split_once('/') {
+        Some((o, r)) if !o.is_empty() && !r.is_empty() => (o, r),
+        _ => return integrity,
+    };
+    let is_org = super::backend::is_repo_org_owned(owner, repo).unwrap_or(false);
+    if !is_org {
+        return integrity;
+    }
+    crate::log_debug(&format!(
+        "[integrity] {}:{}: author_association floor below writer (rank={}), checking collaborator permission for {}",
+        resource_label, resource_id, integrity_rank(repo_full_name, &integrity, ctx), author_login
+    ));
+    if let Some(collab) = super::backend::get_collaborator_permission(owner, repo, author_login) {
+        let perm_floor = collaborator_permission_floor(repo_full_name, collab.permission.as_deref(), ctx);
+        let merged = max_integrity(repo_full_name, integrity, perm_floor, ctx);
+        crate::log_debug(&format!(
+            "[integrity] {}:{}: collaborator permission={:?} → merged rank={}",
+            resource_label, resource_id, collab.permission, integrity_rank(repo_full_name, &merged, ctx)
+        ));
+        merged
+    } else {
+        crate::log_debug(&format!(
+            "[integrity] {}:{}: collaborator permission lookup returned None for {}, keeping author_association floor",
+            resource_label, resource_id, author_login
+        ));
+        integrity
+    }
+}
+
 /// Check if a branch/ref should be treated as default branch context
 pub fn is_default_branch_ref(branch_ref: &str) -> bool {
     branch_ref.is_empty()
@@ -1417,6 +1483,16 @@ pub fn pr_integrity(
         }
     }
 
+    // Collaborator permission fallback for org repos (handles org owners/admins
+    // whose author_association is "NONE" due to inherited org access).
+    if !repo_private {
+        let number = item.get(field_names::NUMBER).and_then(|v| v.as_u64()).unwrap_or(0);
+        integrity = elevate_via_collaborator_permission(
+            author_login, repo_full_name, "pr", &format!("{}#{}", repo_full_name, number),
+            integrity, ctx,
+        );
+    }
+
     if repo_private {
         integrity = max_integrity(
             repo_full_name,
@@ -1527,6 +1603,16 @@ pub fn issue_integrity(
         }
     }
 
+    // Collaborator permission fallback for org repos (handles org owners/admins
+    // whose author_association is "NONE" due to inherited org access).
+    if !repo_private {
+        let number = item.get(field_names::NUMBER).and_then(|v| v.as_u64()).unwrap_or(0);
+        integrity = elevate_via_collaborator_permission(
+            author_login, repo_full_name, "issue", &format!("{}#{}", repo_full_name, number),
+            integrity, ctx,
+        );
+    }
+
     if repo_private {
         integrity = max_integrity(
             repo_full_name,
@@ -1579,6 +1665,17 @@ pub fn commit_integrity(
 
     let mut integrity = author_association_floor(item, repo_full_name, ctx);
 
+    // Collaborator permission fallback for org repos (handles org owners/admins
+    // whose author_association is "NONE" due to inherited org access).
+    if !repo_private {
+        let sha = item.get("sha").and_then(|v| v.as_str()).unwrap_or("unknown");
+        let short_sha = if sha.len() > 8 { &sha[..8] } else { sha };
+        integrity = elevate_via_collaborator_permission(
+            author_login, repo_full_name, "commit", &format!("{}@{}", repo_full_name, short_sha),
+            integrity, ctx,
+        );
+    }
+
     if repo_private {
         integrity = max_integrity(
             repo_full_name,
diff --git a/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/labels/mod.rs b/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/labels/mod.rs
index 04724b49..47f6144a 100644
--- a/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/labels/mod.rs
+++ b/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/labels/mod.rs
@@ -4957,4 +4957,97 @@ mod tests {
             helpers::blocked_integrity(repo, &ctx)
         );
     }
+
+    // === elevate_via_collaborator_permission tests ===
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_elevate_via_collab_permission_skips_when_already_writer() {
+        let ctx = default_ctx();
+        let repo = "github/copilot";
+        let writer = writer_integrity(repo, &ctx);
+        let result = helpers::elevate_via_collaborator_permission(
+            "someuser", repo, "issue", "github/copilot#1",
+            writer.clone(), &ctx,
+        );
+        assert_eq!(result, writer, "should return unchanged when already at writer level");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_elevate_via_collab_permission_skips_when_merged() {
+        let ctx = default_ctx();
+        let repo = "github/copilot";
+        let merged = merged_integrity(repo, &ctx);
+        let result = helpers::elevate_via_collaborator_permission(
+            "someuser", repo, "issue", "github/copilot#1",
+            merged.clone(), &ctx,
+        );
+        assert_eq!(result, merged, "should return unchanged when already at merged level");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_elevate_via_collab_permission_skips_empty_login() {
+        let ctx = default_ctx();
+        let repo = "github/copilot";
+        let none = none_integrity(repo, &ctx);
+        let result = helpers::elevate_via_collaborator_permission(
+            "", repo, "issue", "github/copilot#1",
+            none.clone(), &ctx,
+        );
+        assert_eq!(result, none, "should return unchanged when author_login is empty");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_elevate_via_collab_permission_skips_invalid_repo() {
+        let ctx = default_ctx();
+        let none = none_integrity("invalid", &ctx);
+        let result = helpers::elevate_via_collaborator_permission(
+            "someuser", "invalid", "issue", "invalid#1",
+            none.clone(), &ctx,
+        );
+        assert_eq!(result, none, "should return unchanged for invalid repo format");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_elevate_via_collab_permission_skips_empty_owner_or_repo() {
+        let ctx = default_ctx();
+        let none = none_integrity("/repo", &ctx);
+        let result = helpers::elevate_via_collaborator_permission(
+            "someuser", "/repo", "issue", "/repo#1",
+            none.clone(), &ctx,
+        );
+        assert_eq!(result, none, "should return unchanged for empty owner");
+
+        let none2 = none_integrity("owner/", &ctx);
+        let result2 = helpers::elevate_via_collaborator_permission(
+            "someuser", "owner/", "issue", "owner/#1",
+            none2.clone(), &ctx,
+        );
+        assert_eq!(result2, none2, "should return unchanged for empty repo");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_elevate_via_collab_permission_no_elevation_non_org_repo() {
+        // In test mode, is_repo_org_owned returns None (no cache) → unwrap_or(false)
+        // so the function should return integrity unchanged
+        let ctx = default_ctx();
+        let repo = "github/copilot";
+        let none = none_integrity(repo, &ctx);
+        let result = helpers::elevate_via_collaborator_permission(
+            "dsyme", repo, "issue", "github/copilot#42",
+            none.clone(), &ctx,
+        );
+        assert_eq!(result, none, "should return unchanged when repo is not org-owned (cache miss → false)");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_elevate_via_collab_permission_preserves_reader_integrity() {
+        let ctx = default_ctx();
+        let repo = "github/copilot";
+        let reader = reader_integrity(repo, &ctx);
+        let result = helpers::elevate_via_collaborator_permission(
+            "contributor", repo, "pr", "github/copilot#10",
+            reader.clone(), &ctx,
+        );
+        assert_eq!(result, reader, "should preserve reader integrity when no org lookup available");
+    }
 }
diff --git a/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/labels/tool_rules.rs b/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/labels/tool_rules.rs
index a0c756e7..bd89d994 100644
--- a/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/labels/tool_rules.rs
+++ b/guards/github-guard/rust-guard/src/labels/tool_rules.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@ use serde_json::Value;
 
 use super::constants::{field_names, SENSITIVE_FILE_KEYWORDS, SENSITIVE_FILE_PATTERNS};
 use super::helpers::{
-    author_association_floor_from_str, collaborator_permission_floor, ensure_integrity_baseline,
+    author_association_floor_from_str,
+    elevate_via_collaborator_permission, ensure_integrity_baseline,
     extract_number_as_string, extract_repo_info, extract_repo_info_from_search_query,
     format_repo_id, is_configured_trusted_bot, is_default_branch_commit_context,
     is_default_branch_ref, is_trusted_first_party_bot, is_trusted_user, max_integrity,
@@ -100,35 +101,10 @@ fn resolve_author_integrity(
         {
             floor = max_integrity(repo_id, floor, writer_integrity(repo_id, ctx), ctx);
         }
-        if floor.len() < 3 {
-            let is_org = super::backend::is_repo_org_owned(owner, repo).unwrap_or(false);
-            if is_org {
-                crate::log_info(&format!(
-                    "{} {}/{}#{}: author_association floor insufficient (len={}), checking collaborator permission for {}",
-                    resource_label, owner, repo, resource_num, floor.len(), login
-                ));
-                if let Some(collab) =
-                    super::backend::get_collaborator_permission(owner, repo, login)
-                {
-                    let perm_floor = collaborator_permission_floor(
-                        repo_id,
-                        collab.permission.as_deref(),
-                        ctx,
-                    );
-                    let merged = max_integrity(repo_id, floor, perm_floor, ctx);
-                    crate::log_info(&format!(
-                        "{} {}/{}#{}: collaborator permission={:?} → merged floor len={}",
-                        resource_label, owner, repo, resource_num, collab.permission, merged.len()
-                    ));
-                    floor = merged;
-                } else {
-                    crate::log_info(&format!(
-                        "{} {}/{}#{}: collaborator permission lookup returned None for {}, keeping author_association floor",
-                        resource_label, owner, repo, resource_num, login
-                    ));
-                }
-            }
-        }
+        let resource_id = format!("{}/{}#{}", owner, repo, resource_num);
+        floor = elevate_via_collaborator_permission(
+            login, repo_id, resource_label, &resource_id, floor, ctx,
+        );
     }
 
     max_integrity(repo_id, base_integrity, floor, ctx)