As we move through 2026, the pressures facing employers are becoming more specific, more data-driven, and in some cases, more regulated. For brokers, that’s an opportunity. The clearer you can be about where demand is heading, the easier it is to show your clients why an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is no longer a nice-to-have, but a core part of how they protect their people and their bottom line.
To help you have those conversations, we’ve pulled together five trends we’re seeing across our own service data and the wider market. Each one points to a growing need among large businesses, and a clear role for the support you offer them.
The rising value of Work Health Assessments
One of the most striking shifts we’ve seen is a sharp rise in demand for Work Health Assessments. Over the last month alone, requests have jumped by 29%, and that momentum shows no sign of slowing.
It’s not hard to see why. Employers are under pressure to move from reactive support to genuine prevention. A Work Health Assessment provides an early, structured view of an employee’s health and wellbeing, designed to surface issues before they turn into long-term absence. With this information, managers can put the right support in place at the right time. For large organisations juggling hundreds or thousands of employees, that early insight is invaluable.
For brokers, this trend is a useful way in. If your clients are still thinking about wellbeing purely in terms of counselling sessions, the growing appetite for assessments shows how the conversation has matured. Employers want to understand their workforce, not just react to it, and that’s exactly the kind of proactive support a modern EAP is built to deliver.
Data protection advice - is AI behind the surge?
Calls to our advice lines about data protection have risen by 33% month on month. It’s a significant jump, and one worth paying attention to.
Our view is that the rapid adoption of AI tools in the workplace is a major factor. As employees experiment with generative AI to draft documents, summarise information, and speed up day-to-day tasks, many organisations are realising they haven’t set clear boundaries around what can (and can’t) be shared with these tools. Questions about handling personal data, confidentiality, and compliance are surfacing far more often than they were even a year ago.
This is a trend your clients can’t afford to ignore. The businesses that get ahead of it give employees somewhere to turn for clear, confidential guidance, in turn avoiding the costly mistakes that come from uncertainty. An EAP with robust HR and advice support gives large employers a practical safety net while they work out their longer-term AI and data policies.
Financial wellbeing stays firmly on the agenda
Money worries continue to weigh heavily on employees, and the data reflects it. Month on month, calls regarding personal finances have steadily risen with no sign of slowing down.
Financial stress rarely stays neatly in one part of someone’s life. It affects sleep, concentration, mood, and ultimately performance at work. For large employers, that can translate into presenteeism, reduced productivity, and higher absence (even among staff who are otherwise engaged and capable).
The employers who recognise this are the ones investing in financial wellbeing support as part of a broader package. It’s a straightforward message for brokers to carry: helping employees feel more in control of their finances isn’t just a kind thing to do, it’s a practical way to protect focus, morale, and output across the business.
Retaining talent to control costs
Staff retention has become a recurring theme across the industry, and for good reason. As reported by Mercer and others, the cost of replacing an employee is considerable once you factor in recruitment, onboarding, lost productivity, and the time it takes a new hire to get up to speed. Keeping good people is almost always cheaper than finding new ones.
Wellbeing sits right at the heart of retention. Employers who take mental, physical, and financial health seriously are far more likely to retain their staff. In a competitive labour market, a strong wellbeing offer is one of the most cost-effective retention tools a large business can invest in.
This is a compelling angle for your client conversations. Framing an EAP as a retention strategy, rather than simply a wellbeing perk, connects it directly to the numbers that matter most to finance and leadership teams.
Overhauling internal policies ahead of new Action Plans
Finally, regulation is starting to concentrate minds. With Equality and Menopause Action Plans set to become mandatory by spring 2027, the deadline is approaching faster than many employers realise. Large organisations have a significant amount of groundwork to do, such as reviewing internal policies, updating processes, and making sure the right support is in place.
The businesses that treat this as an opportunity, rather than a box-ticking exercise, will be in a far stronger position. Getting ahead now means employers can build genuinely supportive frameworks around equality and menopause, rather than scrambling to comply at the last minute.
For brokers, this is a timely reason to reopen conversations with clients. A modern EAP can play a real role here, offering specialist guidance, manager support, and confidential help for employees navigating these issues, and helping large employers demonstrate that they take their responsibilities seriously.
Helping your clients stay ahead
What ties these trends together is a shift towards proactive, joined-up wellbeing support. Whether it’s early health assessments, clear advice on emerging risks like AI, financial guidance, retention, or preparing for new regulation, large employers are looking for partners who can help them get ahead rather than catch up.
That’s where you come in, and where our EAP delivers real value. If you’d like to talk through how our services can support your clients through the trends shaping 2026, we’re always happy to help.
