Firefighter payslip explained: every line, worked example

The layout of a firefighter payslip

Payslip formats differ between services and payroll systems, but most follow the same order. The top block identifies you (name, employee number, role, pay period and pay date), then the payments block lists what you earned, a deductions block lists what came off, and the summary shows gross, total deductions and net pay, plus year-to-date figures. Read them in that order: payments, deductions, net.

The terminology is not standardised, so the same item may be called different things in different services. Basic pay may be called salary, base pay or standard pay; a CPD payment may be labelled Continual Professional Development, CPD or a service-specific code; a flexible duty supplement may be called flexi duty, FDS or rota allowance. Use the list below as a decoder, and ask payroll if a label is not clear.

For the wider picture of pay components see how firefighters are paid, and for the annual numbers behind them see firefighter salary UK 2026. To compare your own payslip with expected figures, the payslip checker does the arithmetic for you.

The payments: basic pay, CPD and allowances

Basic pay is the annual salary divided by the number of pay periods: £3,363.17 monthly or £3,104.46 four-weekly for a competent firefighter on £40,358. It should match the NJC figure for your role and stage. A part-time employee's basic pay is pro rata. CPD appears as a separate line for firefighters who have passed the Continual Professional Development process; the amount is set per fire authority and increased 3.8% from 1 July 2026, and it is treated as basic pay, including for pension.

Flexible duty supplement appears for Station Managers and above on the flexible duty system: a pensionable 20% of basic pay. Additional responsibility allowances reward extra skills and responsibilities outside the requirements of the role; they are set locally, are temporary and non-pensionable. Acting-up or temporary promotion payments are the development or competent hourly rate of the higher role for the time worked.

For on-call staff the payments block shows the retainer (an annual amount paid in instalments), activity pay at the basic hourly rate and the disturbance payment of £5.31 per call-out. See firefighter allowances explained for local allowances and flexi duty allowance explained.

Overtime, public holidays and recall lines

Overtime should appear with hours and a rate. For Watch Manager and below it is time and a half: £21.60 for a development firefighter and £27.65 for a competent firefighter from 1 July 2026. Working a public holiday is double time for Station Manager and below not on the flexible duty system, £36.86 an hour for a competent firefighter, and it is not pensionable. Recall to duty for a serious incident is paid for at least three hours at double time.

Check the hours against your own record, and the rate against the multiplier. If a line shows £27.65 but a public holiday was worked, ask why it is not £36.86. For casual overtime after an incident, the Grey Book pays nothing under 15 minutes, treats 15 minutes to an hour as one hour, and then pays complete 15-minute periods. A 1 hour 20 minute stay-on pays 1 hour 15 minutes (£34.56 for a competent firefighter).

Overtime often appears a period after the work, so match each line to the right period. Use the overtime calculator to check the gross figure, and the overtime rates guide for the rules.

The deductions: tax code, National Insurance and pension

Income tax is deducted through PAYE using your tax code. For 2026/27 the standard code is 1257L (a £12,570 personal allowance). Scottish taxpayers should have an S prefix and Welsh taxpayers a C prefix. If your code is different, for example because you have another job, a benefit in kind or a tax underpayment being collected, your tax will be higher or lower than in the tables. See firefighter tax code explained.

National Insurance for most employees is 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above that, and is calculated on gross pay before pension. It usually appears with a category letter, and category A is the standard letter for most employees. Pension is your employee contribution, a percentage of pensionable pay set by your scheme's bands (for FPS 2015 on the site's model, 11.09%, 12.59%, 14.09% or 15.59% depending on pay). It is taken before income tax, which reduces your taxable pay.

Other deductions include student loan repayments, union subscriptions, salary-sacrifice items and voluntary schemes. If you have a student loan, see firefighter student loan repayments; for salary sacrifice, see salary sacrifice schemes.

A worked example: competent firefighter, monthly and four-weekly

The tables show the site's 2026/27 model for a competent firefighter on £40,358 with a 1257L code, a 12.59% FPS 2015 pension contribution, no student loan and no extras, for both pay frequencies. The annual figures are pension £5,081.07, income tax £4,541.39, National Insurance £2,223.04 and net £28,512.50, divided by 12 or 13. Each line is rounded, so a payslip's lines can differ from the summary by a penny.

Real PAYE calculations are cumulative and depend on the tax period, so a monthly payslip will not usually equal the annual figure divided by twelve exactly; it tends to equal it when pay is level through the year. If your first payslips of the tax year differ slightly, that is normal. Large or repeated differences are worth a query.

How extras change the payslip

Add a CPD payment of £1,000 a year (illustrative) and a competent firefighter's gross monthly pay rises by £83.33, to £3,446.50. On the site's model the annual take-home rises by £619.28 to £29,131.78, so the monthly net rises by about £51.61 to £2,427.65. Add 12 hours of overtime at £27.65 in a month and the gross for that month rises by £331.80, of which roughly £238.90 arrives as net if it is non-pensionable (72% after 20% tax and 8% National Insurance).

A payslip with overtime is therefore not a guide to normal monthly pay. Treat basic pay plus CPD as your baseline, and overtime and one-off payments such as arrears as extras. For a Station Manager on the flexible duty system, the 20% supplement would appear as an additional monthly line: on Competent A pay of £53,604 it is £893.40 a month.

The take-home pay guide shows net figures for every role, and the pay calculator lets you enter extras.

Arrears, adjustments and one-off lines

After a pay award you may see an arrears or back-pay line, covering the difference between your old and new pay from the effective date of 1 July 2026 to the date the award was implemented. For a competent firefighter that is £123.08 per monthly period or £113.62 per four-week period. It will usually be taxed and subject to National Insurance in the period it is paid. See firefighter pay rise back pay.

Other adjustments include overpayment recovery, an underpaid tax adjustment from HMRC, a change of tax code, a refund of tax or expenses and salary-sacrifice changes. Sick pay lines may show Statutory Sick Pay and the service's top-up. Under the Grey Book, full pay during authorised sick leave means an amount which, when added to Statutory Sick Pay and any Employment Support Allowance, equals contractual earnings.

Any line you do not recognise should be queried, in writing, quoting the pay period. Keep payslips for at least the current and previous tax years.

A checklist for reviewing your payslip

Use the checklist each time your circumstances change: at the start of a new tax year, after 1 July when the pay award is implemented, after a promotion or a change of stage, and when your tax code changes.

1. Confirm your name, employee number, role, stage and pay period on the payslip.
2. Check that basic pay per period equals your annual salary divided by 12 or 13, and that the annual salary matches the current NJC figure for your role and stage.
3. Check the CPD amount matches your authority's figure, and any flexible duty supplement is 20% of basic pay.
4. Check overtime hours and rates: 1.5 times the hourly rate, or 2 times on a public holiday.
5. Check the tax code: 1257L in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; S1257L in Scotland unless HMRC has told your employer otherwise.
6. Check the pension percentage against your scheme's band for your pensionable pay.
7. Compare net pay with an estimate from a calculator, and follow up any difference of more than a few pounds.

When to ask for help

Most payslip questions can be resolved with payroll in writing. Send the pay period, the line in question, what you expected and how you calculated it. If the query concerns pension contributions or pensionable pay, the scheme administrator may need to be involved. If it concerns tax, HMRC or your personal tax account will hold the definitive code and any adjustments.

If you are an FBU member, your local representative can help raise a persistent problem with your service, and the grievance procedure is available if the issue is not resolved. This guide is not legal advice, and it reports only what is in the published Grey Book, NJC circulars and the site's own model.

For a personalised written review that lists your pay components, likely deductions and questions to put to payroll, the paid Personal Pay Report is designed for the purpose, and the payslip checker is the free first step.