Coronavirus impact: Support for Nest Connectors

We are here to support you

Many people in the UK face uncertainty as the Coronavirus situation develops. We want to reassure you that we’re taking all necessary steps to ensure that the services we - and our partners - deliver remain available and operate without interruption.

We have the technology in place to enable our staff to work remotely and continue to support you. All the ways you can contact us remain open and fully operational. Our systems have not been altered and will continue to work in the same way.

What impact does coronavirus have on members ongoing contributions?

With the global impact of coronavirus dominating daily news, some of your employers and their members may also be asking what this means for pension savings. We recognise this is a difficult time and we’ll be updating this page regularly.

Presently, employers’ duties remain unchanged, so please where possible continue to follow your normal processes for your employers and pay contributions when they are due.

The government has recently announced a range of measures aimed at helping businesses continue to keep employees on their workforce and payroll in these difficult times.

The government has confirmed that as part of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme the grants available to employers are intended to support business and their employees by covering up to 80% of the costs of employment (80% of furloughed employees’ usual monthly wage costs, up to £2,500 a month, plus the associated Employer National Insurance contributions and minimum automatic enrolment employer pension contributions on that wage).

For more information from the government please see Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme or Claim for wage costs through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

Can employer pension contributions be paused?

No. If employers are paying employees, they must make employer pension contributions and deduct any employee pension contributions.

Some employers have stopped paying some employees, what do we need to do?

For those employees where the employer has stopped paying them, they should be marked as ‘ceased contributions’ in the Nest system. If the employer starts to pay them in the future they should enroll them into the Nest system if they are eligible.

You may find the following links useful:

How do I let Nest know if a worker wants to stop making contributions?

How do I use a CSV file to let you know a member has left employment?

How do I let you know a member has left employment using my online account?

Will employers be reported to The Pensions Regulator if they don’t pay pension contributions?

Yes, we’re still required to report employers for failed payments. However, the Regulator also understands these are exceptionally challenging times and now require us to report employers for late payment when they are over 150 days late in paying, rather than the current 90 days. This gives employers longer to bring payments up to date before being formally reported to the Regulator.

The Pensions Regulator has published the following statement: “We know this is a challenging time for everyone and we recognise the strain this is putting on employers. We will take a proportionate and risk-based approach towards the enforcement of decisions, in light of these challenging times, with the aim of helping to get employers back on track and supporting both employers and savers.”

What additional action should I consider?

Check that in the event of staff illness you’ve provided sufficient number of users access so you can continue to manage all of your employer accounts. For more information see How do I assign a Nest connect user to an employer?

Getting in touch with us

If you require assistance, please contact us through our normal channels, including by accessing our help centre.

These are unprecedented times and our teams are here to support you. We’ll work to ensure this page remains up to date and contains the latest information.

If your employers, or their workers have questions they may find the links below useful:

How will my investments with Nest be affected by coronavirus?

Coronavirus impact: Support for employers and your workers