Enrolling workers into NEST
In this section
What information do I need to start enrolling workers?
Before your staging date or duty start date, it’s good to check the details you hold about your workers is up to date. When you enrol a worker with NEST, you must provide the worker’s:
- title
- first name
- middle name (if applicable)
- last name
- date of birth
- gender
- National Insurance number
- alternative identifier
- home address.
Please note, while entering the NI number you need to make sure that the NI number is in correct format.
Please refer to our Employer payroll guide for more information on valid NI number formats.
If you don’t have a National Insurance number for the worker you must provide an alternative identifier. If you have the worker’s National Insurance number you can add an alternative identifier if you choose. This may be useful if you use a particular reference for each worker on your existing systems. For example, this could be a payroll or staff reference number.
It’s also important to provide an email address of the worker. This is to send an email to let them know they’ve been enrolled in addition to sending them a Member welcome pack in the post.
The table below shows some examples of how you and the member can be affected if the information you’ve provide at enrolment is incorrect.
Box |
Common errors |
Why it’s important to provide the correct details |
| Title |
Mr when it should be Mrs |
If you enrol a member with an incorrect title and gender, the member may need to provide evidence to show the correct information before the system will update their details. |
| First name, Middle name, Last name |
Misspelt names, first name and surname or the wrong way round |
We’ll set the member’s account up using the details you’ve provided us, so if you’ve given us incorrect information then the members will receive communications that include incorrect information. Also, when the member wants to take the money out of NEST, they need to provide evidence of their identity. If any part of their name is incorrect or doesn’t match their documentation, they’ll need to rectify the same before they can access their money. |
| Date of birth |
Incorrect date, incorrect month, incorrect year |
When a member logs into their NEST online account for the first time, they need to provide their date of birth and NEST ID. If the date of birth they’ve entered doesn’t match the one on our records, the member won’t be able to log into their online account. Providing an incorrect date of birth would also affect the member’s ability to opt out online or by using our automated telephone service. Providing an incorrect year would also mean the member would be placed in the wrong Retirement Date Fund. |
|
Worker’s National Insurance (NI) number |
An incorrect or missing NI number may mean the worker miss out on tax relief they’re entitled to. If you don’t provide the correct NI number when you enrol your workers you’ll need to come back into the system to enter the correct number. When an NI number isn’t available for a worker it’s your legal responsibility to provide it to us within one month of the worker giving it to you. |
Once you’ve checked you have the correct personal information for your workers, you’ll need to know which group and payment source you’re going to use for them. You’ll also need to make sure you have the correct start date(s) too. For more information on choosing the right start date, please see What is the start date and enrolment date?
There are three ways you can enrol your workers:
- directly online by entering the details onto the website
- by file upload
- by secure file transfer protocol (SFTP).
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