As 2026 approaches, people managers face a crucial challenge: what should I do today to prepare for all the changes coming soon? The Employment Rights Bill 2026 (ERB), the Equality Act amendments and rapid advances in AI workforce planning are all putting pressure on HR teams. Now is the time to prepare and bring your teams up to speed ready for a big year ahead.

This article goes beyond a standard legal update; it's a practical guide for people managers. Consider it your action plan for the next 12 months, giving you steps to take now to stay ahead of evolving expectations and respond confidently to upcoming legal and organisational changes.

Four priorities for people managers planning ahead to 2026

Sexual harassment prevention – an ongoing focus

Following the 2024 amendments to the Equality Act and updated guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), organisations continue to hold a statutory duty to actively prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. This isn’t a new requirement, but a reminder that the legal obligation is ongoing and must be consistently prioritised and embedded into your agenda throughout the year.

By 2026, you should be able to demonstrate not just compliance, but a proactive culture of prevention. Ask yourself: can I confidently say our organisation is doing everything possible to prevent harassment?

If this answer is ‘no’, here are some helpful actions to make sure sexual harassment prevention is an ongoing priority:

• Schedule refresher training and bite-sized awareness sessions for staff and managers.

• Reinforce policies through regular communication campaigns.

• Test employee confidence. Use pulse surveys to ask staff whether they:

  • Understand how to raise concerns.
  • Believe complaints would be taken seriously and addressed appropriately.

• Review internal processes

  • Check that reporting channels, investigation procedures and disciplinary processes are fit for purpose and align with the latest EHRC standards.

• Noting the Festive season is upon us, ensure you have clearly communicated to staff and third parties your behaviour expectations for any work related or third-party events.

  • Where possible this should be in written format. If this is not possible an attendance register and notes of the meeting should be taken.

Workforce planning – preparing for day one rights

The ERB introduces day one rights for both flexible working requests and unfair dismissal protection. That means job design, onboarding and performance management all need to be future-proofed for the coming year and beyond. Leaving flexible working decisions until the last minute risks ill-considered decisions that do not reflect your organisation’s needs.

Remember, workforce planning should not sit with HR alone. It requires a whole business approach, where people managers and operational, leaders work together to align workforce design with the strategic business plan.

What should people managers put on their 2026 to-do list?

Review your job roles – ask: can this role reasonably accommodate flexible working from day one? If not, what is the legitimate business reason?

Future-proof role design – make sure job descriptions are clear, measurable and aligned with performance requirements, remembering that contractual changes will be harder to make under the new ‘fire and rehire’ consultation requirements.

Strengthen probationary processes – with unfair dismissal rights applying from day one, it will be critical to set clear expectations and apply structured reviews during probation.

Plan organisation wide – workforce planning shouldn’t be reactive. Consider now where flexible working could be built into role design to minimise disputes later.

By mapping out these changes in advance, people managers will be better placed to meet statutory requirements while protecting organisational performance.

AI workforce planning – building skills for the future

AI will transform job design, skills demand and recruitment in 2026 and beyond. Planning now means you’re ready to act when the shift accelerates.

Questions to ask now:

• Which roles in your business could be enhanced or replaced by AI?
• What skills gaps need addressing through upskilling and reskilling?
• Do your HR policies reflect responsible AI usage?

Actions to book for your 2026 agenda:

• Create an internal upskilling roadmap.
• Adjust talent acquisition strategies to attract AI-ready skills.
• Regularly review AI’s impact on your ways of working and business direction to keep workforce planning ahead of the curve.

By treating AI as a business-wide planning exercise, rather than just a tech or HR project, organisations can future-proof their workforce while building resilience and competitive advantage.

Employee engagement surveys – turning insight into action

Without gathering insights, you risk making your workforce planning decisions on assumptions. That is why it is crucial to put running employee engagement surveys and pulse surveys on your to-do list.

How to get the most out of the exercise:

• Use annual surveys to shape business-wide strategies.
• Run targeted pulse surveys on key topics like flexible working, harassment prevention and wellbeing.
• Commit senior leadership to act on results, because inaction undermines trust.
• Set up employee focus groups to co-create solutions.

When employees see tangible changes flowing from their feedback, they are more likely to engage with the changes you’ll need to roll out in 2026 and beyond.

Avoiding the top four mistakes in people planning for 2026

Workforce planning is an opportunity to look ahead and shape the organisation ready for what’s coming next. Yet too often, organisations treat it as a reactive process, responding to short-term pressures rather than anticipating future needs.

By understanding the link between job design, clear expectations and performance, you can create a people strategy that both complies with changing regulation and drives business results.

How RSM can help your HR team prepare for 2026 workforce changes

At RSM, we can help your leadership and people teams align around a clear delivery plan for 2026, whether that’s through a whole business approach or a specific focus, such as workforce planning in light of the ERB or AI readiness.

Our support includes:

• Pay Gap reporting – covering gender and ethnicity data preparation, reporting and action planning.
• Strategic workshops – helping uncover where your organisation stands today, define where it needs to be and build a clear, actionable roadmap to get there.
• Onsite or virtual training – topics can range from diversity, equity and inclusion to HR and line manager development.
• Pulse and annual employee surveys – taking care of the process, including design, development and review. And strategic planning support on next steps.
• Specialist HR project support and outsourcing – handling challenging projects ranging from HR Director-level strategy through to the design and delivery of specific change and people initiatives.
• Employment Rights Bill implementation support - legal support to identify the reforms relevant to your business.

For more information, please get in touch with Kerri Constable or your usual RSM contact.

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