UK Firefighter Pay Scales
This guide explains typical firefighter pay in the UK, including wholetime and on-call (retained) roles. Exact figures can vary by fire and rescue service, role, allowances, and local agreements.
Wholetime firefighter salary
Wholetime firefighters are salaried employees working full-time shifts. Pay usually progresses from a development rate to a competent rate after training and assessments.
- Development firefighter: typical range ~£28k–£32k
- Competent firefighter: typical range ~£37k–£39k
- Crew Manager: typical range ~£40k–£45k
- Watch Manager: typical range ~£47k–£52k
These are indicative ranges. Always check your service’s latest pay circular / HR guidance.
On-call (retained) firefighter pay
On-call firefighters are usually paid via a combination of a retainer and hourly payments for incidents, training, and drills (depending on your contract).
- Annual retainer: often a few thousand per year (varies widely)
- Incident pay: typically paid hourly
- Training/drill pay: typically paid hourly
On-call arrangements vary more than wholetime. Use your payslip or policy to get the right hourly numbers.
Overtime, extra hours and enhancements
Overtime and extra hours rules are not fully standardised nationally. Many services use enhanced multipliers for certain duties (for example rest day working or bank holidays), while others use different approaches.
- Extra hours / cover: often 1.25× to 1.33×
- Rest day / off-duty shift: often 1.5×
- Bank / public holiday: often 2.0×
Use your hourly rate and your service’s multiplier. If you don’t know your hourly rate, use the salary → hourly helper in the calculator.
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