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

A worker can decide to stop contributing to their Nest retirement pot for any period of time they choose. They can either do this via their online Nest account, by contacting us or by telling you. If a worker chooses to stop their contributions you don’t have to make employer contributions until the worker starts making them again.

If one of your workers tells you they want to stop making contributions you’ll need to let us know in a contribution schedule. You can do this directly through your online Nest account or you can upload a contribution schedule file.

If you want to upload a contribution schedule file you can use one of our templates which will help you get your information in the right format. Please see Nest file tester for more information.

Once the schedule has been submitted for payment, the worker’s status will show as ‘No contributions due’ in your schedule. Once the schedule has been processed for payment, the worker will move from your active workers list to the inactive workers list in the Manage workers area of your Nest online account. Once this happens the worker will not appear in any of the newly created schedules. We’ll also contact the worker to let them know that we’ve been told by you that they want to stop making contributions.

If you’ve already filled in the contribution details in a schedule before you’ve told us that they’ve stopped contributions, their status may show as ‘Not eligible – Leaver’. You won’t need to do anything for them.

You should stop deducting contributions from the worker’s wages and you don’t need to make any employer contributions. Don’t forget that you’ll also need to inform your payroll to stop taking contributions from the worker’s wages.

If we receive any contributions for a contribution schedule after the worker has stopped contributions, the contributions will be refunded.

If a worker stops their contributions directly with us we’ll send a message to your secure Nest mailbox within five working days to let you know. We’ll also automatically remove them from any future contribution schedules. You’ll still need to pay any outstanding contributions due for that worker. 

Please note that stopping contribution is different from opting out. Workers can only opt out within one calendar month of their enrolment and receive a refund of their contributions. After that time we’ll continue to invest their savings until they take their money out of Nest.

If the worker wants to restart their contributions they’ll have to be enrolled again. You’d need to use the enrolment type ‘Other’ so the worker doesn’t have another opt-out period.

After three years you’ll also need to re-enrol any workers who are eligible for auto enrolment but aren’t in a qualifying scheme. Please see How do I manage my three year re-enrolment duties? for more information.