NEST is a pension scheme established under the authority of the Secretary of State under s 67 of the Pensions Act 2008 (PenA 2008) and the National Employment Savings Trust Order 2010, SI 2010/917 as a vehicle that employers may utilise in order to meet their auto-enrolment obligations. NEST was created specifically to ensure that smaller companies and low-to-moderate earners have access to quality pension provision.
NEST is a registered pension scheme for the purposes of s 153 of the Finance Act 2004, providing benefits on a defined contributions basis, and must accept any employer wishing to join in order to meet its employer duties under PenA 2008 (known as its 'public service obligation'). Subject to certain conditions, self-employed persons and persons claiming pension entitlements under divorce settlements may also join the scheme. In addition, employers may request to join in advance of their employer duties applying.
An employer may prefer to use NEST to meet their auto-enrolment obligations:
to reduce the administrative burden (as an employer would generally just need to enrol employees and pay contributions)
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