The basic idea: an annual salary paid in instalments
The NJC circular sets each role's pay as an annual figure, with hourly and overtime rates derived from it. A competent firefighter's basic annual salary is £40,358 from 1 July 2026, and a development firefighter's £31,539. Your service converts that annual figure into pay instalments. The amount you receive in each instalment is the annual figure divided by the number of pay periods, before any deductions.
The Grey Book sets the working hours behind the salary: basic working hours average 42 a week for full-time employees, inclusive of three hours of meal breaks in every 24 hours on the shift system, and hours are pro rata for part-time employees. The salary is not paid per shift worked. A firefighter on a two-day, two-night pattern is paid the same in each pay period regardless of how many shifts fall in it, which is why the annual figure and the 42-hour average are the base for everything else.
For the national numbers by role, see firefighter salary UK 2026. For every line that can appear on a payslip, see firefighter payslip explained.
Monthly or four-weekly: how your service divides the year
Fire and rescue services choose their own pay frequency. Some pay monthly, which produces 12 payments a year, and some pay four-weekly, which produces 13. The site's payslip checker supports both, and its calculations use 12 periods for monthly pay and 13 for four-weekly. London Fire Brigade's policy shows how one service phrases it: the revised 2026 rates were implemented in July 2026 salaries, and the arrangements for payment of salary are set out in a separate LFB policy on payment of salary.
The amounts differ, but the annual total does not. A competent firefighter's gross basic pay is £3,363.17 a month (£40,358 ÷ 12) or £3,104.46 per four-week period (£40,358 ÷ 13). The same person paid four-weekly receives 13 payslips a year, so some calendar months contain two pay dates. Budgeting is easier if you work from the annual figure and divide by the number of payslips.
Neither system is better on its own terms, but the choice affects the timing of cash flow, the pattern of tax under PAYE, and when arrears show up. If you move service, check the frequency, since a change from monthly to four-weekly can produce a different-looking payslip for the same salary.
| Role and stage | Annual | Monthly (÷ 12) | Four-weekly (÷ 13) | Weekly (÷ 52.143) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firefighter, development | £31,539.00 | £2,628.25 | £2,426.08 | £604.86 |
| Firefighter, competent | £40,358.00 | £3,363.17 | £3,104.46 | £773.99 |
| Crew Manager, competent | £44,742.00 | £3,728.50 | £3,441.69 | £858.06 |
| Watch Manager, Competent B | £50,034.00 | £4,169.50 | £3,848.77 | £959.55 |
| Station Manager, Competent B | £57,402.00 | £4,783.50 | £4,415.54 | £1,100.86 |
Gross, before tax, National Insurance and pension. Weekly is the intermediate figure in the NJC's hourly rate calculation.
What makes up a firefighter's pay packet
A payslip can contain several kinds of payment, and it helps to sort them into fixed and variable. The fixed part is basic pay, plus any recurring elements such as a CPD payment or a flexible duty supplement. CPD is treated as basic pay for all pay-related purposes under the Grey Book, and successful applicants receive it from 1 July each year.
The variable part includes overtime, which is time and a half for Watch Manager and below, and double time on a public holiday; acting-up payments, which are the development-phase hourly rate of the higher role (or competent if already competent in it); additional responsibility allowances, which are local, temporary and non-pensionable; and public holiday working. On-call staff have a different mix: an annual retainer, an hourly rate for work activity and a £5.31 disturbance payment for each call-out.
Then come the deductions: income tax, National Insurance and pension contributions, and any voluntary items such as union subscriptions or salary sacrifice. The detail on each is in firefighter allowances explained and take-home pay 2026.
| Element | Who gets it | How it is set | Regularity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic salary | All Grey Book staff | NJC circular by role and stage | Every pay period |
| CPD payment | Eligible after 5 years at competent (firefighter) | Amount by fire authority in NJC circular | Every pay period, from 1 July |
| Flexible duty supplement | Station Manager and above on flexi duty | 20% of basic pay (Grey Book) | Every pay period |
| Overtime | Watch Manager and below | 1.5 x hourly, 2 x on public holidays | When worked; often paid in arrears |
| Acting-up pay | Employees covering higher role | Development or competent hourly rate of higher role | When worked |
| Retainer | On-call staff | 5% to 15% of wholetime basic pay | Annual, paid in instalments |
| Activity and disturbance pay | On-call staff | Basic hourly rate; £5.31 per call-out | When worked |
| Additional responsibility allowance | Some staff | Set locally | Local |
When pay changes: the 1 July cycle
National awards have taken effect on 1 July each year since at least 2018. The 2026 award of 3.8% took effect from 1 July 2026 (NJC/2/26), and CPD payments rose by the same percentage on the same date. Successful CPD applicants receive the payment from 1 July each year, and the Grey Book says applications are decided by 1 June, so July is a busy month for payroll.
The timing of processing depends on when the agreement is confirmed. In 2026 the FBU consultative ballot closed on 2 July and the NJC circular is dated 3 July, and London Fire Brigade's policy says the new rates were paid in July 2026 salaries. In some earlier years there was a gap of several months, which produced arrears. See firefighter pay rise back pay.
Pay also changes when you change stage or role. Moving from development to competent triggers a new annual rate from the date your service records that you were assessed as competent, and a promotion moves you to the new role's development rate. Ask your service which date it uses, and whether any change is backdated to the date of assessment.
Overtime, retainers and other variable pay: when do they arrive?
The national documents set the rates, not the pay calendar. The Grey Book says how overtime is calculated: casual overtime after an operational incident is paid for complete periods of 15 minutes beyond the first hour, and no payment is made under 15 minutes; pre-arranged overtime is voluntary and limited to 24 hours a month averaged over six months. It does not say which payslip an overtime claim will appear on.
In practice payroll has a cut-off date for claims, and variable pay is commonly paid in a later period than the one in which it was worked, but the exact timing is local. Ask payroll for the cut-off calendar. For on-call firefighters, the annual retainer is paid across the year in instalments, while activity and disturbance payments follow the timing of the claims; check the contract for the calendar.
If you prefer time off in lieu instead of overtime payment, the Grey Book allows an employee who requests it to be granted time off in lieu at the appropriate enhanced rate, subject to the exigencies of the service. See firefighter overtime rates and bank holiday pay.
Sick pay, maternity pay and other paid leave
Sick pay under the Grey Book supplements Statutory Sick Pay to maintain normal pay. An employee on authorised sick leave is entitled to full pay for six months in any twelve-month period; after that, the employer may reduce pay by up to half for six months. For illness or injury arising out of authorised duty, full pay lasts twelve months, then up to half pay for six months. Authorities can extend sick pay in exceptional cases, and normal sickness and duty-related sickness are recorded separately.
Maternity pay was improved in the 2024 agreement to 26 weeks at full pay, inclusive of all allowances and CPD, followed by 13 weeks at Statutory Maternity Pay. The Grey Book's own provisions for employees with at least a year's continuous service describe full pay offset against statutory pay for the first six weeks and further periods, and detail depends on when the employee declares an intention to return. Check the current Grey Book text and your own service's policy.
Annual leave, public holiday leave in lieu and time off in lieu are also part of the overall package, and the pay you receive during leave is your normal pay. See firefighter sick pay, annual leave and maternity and paternity leave for more detail.
How on-call firefighters are paid
On-call (retained) firefighters are paid under the retained duty system rules. The annual retainer for full cover of at least 120 hours a week is 15% of the appropriate wholetime basic pay (£6,054 for a competent firefighter), with 5%, 7.5%, 10% and 12.5% bands for lower availability, and 5% for the day-crewing duty system. Work activity is paid at the basic hourly rate (£18.43 competent, £14.40 development) and each call-out attracts a £5.31 disturbance payment.
A crew member called to an emergency incident receives a minimum of one hour's pay, and two hours if they stay more than one hour and fifteen minutes. On top of that, a retained firefighter may attend a training centre course, when they receive the appropriate basic weekly rate of pay for each week of the course, pro-rated as appropriate and equal to the wholetime rate in the same role.
See on-call firefighter pay for a full explanation and on-call annual earnings examples for worked yearly totals. The on-call pay calculator lets you enter your own numbers.
Tax, National Insurance and pension: what comes off
Three deductions apply to nearly everyone. Income tax is calculated through PAYE using your tax code; the standard code for 2026/27 is 1257L, and Scottish taxpayers should have an S prefix, which applies Scottish bands. National Insurance is 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above, and is not reduced by pension contributions. Pension contributions are a percentage of pensionable pay, set by your scheme's bands, and are deducted before income tax.
For a competent firefighter on £40,358, the site's model gives an annual pension contribution of £5,081.07 at the FPS 2015 band of 12.59%, income tax of £4,541.39 and National Insurance of £2,223.04, leaving £28,512.50, or £2,376.04 a month on average. Your payslip may differ because of your tax code, pension band, salary sacrifice and any voluntary deductions.
See firefighter tax code explained and the pension contributions guide, and use the pay calculator to model your own case.
Free toolFirefighter pay and take-home calculatorSet your own role, region, pension band and pay period to see what reaches your account.Open the free pay calculator →Questions to ask your own service
Because pay frequency, cut-offs and many allowances are local, ask your payroll or HR team a short list of questions when you join or move. Are you paid monthly or four-weekly, and on which dates? When is the cut-off for overtime and other claims, and in which payslip will they appear? When does a change of stage or promotion take effect in payroll, and is it backdated to the date of assessment? What is your CPD amount and when is it reviewed?
For on-call staff: how is the retainer paid, what is the availability band and what activity is paid? For everyone: what is the pension contribution rate shown on your payslip, and what is your tax code? Keep the written answers with your contract. If anything on your payslip differs from what you were told, the payslip checker and payslip explained guide help you find the difference.
For a personalised written summary of your pay components and questions for payroll, the paid Personal Pay Report is designed for this kind of check.
Frequently asked questions
Are firefighters paid monthly or weekly?
Fire and rescue services pay either monthly (12 payments) or four-weekly (13 payments); the national circular gives annual and hourly figures, not a pay date. A competent firefighter's gross basic pay is about £3,363.17 a month or £3,104.46 per four-week period from 1 July 2026.
When do firefighters get a pay rise?
National awards have taken effect on 1 July each year since at least 2018. The 2026 award was 3.8% from 1 July 2026. Your payslip may show the new rate later, with arrears for the earlier period. Moving from development to competent or being promoted also changes pay.
Do firefighters get paid for overtime?
Yes, for Watch Manager and below: time and a half, or double time on a public holiday. A competent firefighter's overtime rate is £27.65 an hour from 1 July 2026. Time off in lieu at the enhanced rate can be taken instead if you request it and service needs allow.
How do on-call firefighters get paid?
They receive an annual retainer (up to 15% of wholetime pay for full cover), basic hourly pay for work activity and a £5.31 disturbance payment per call-out. A crew member gets at least one hour's pay per emergency call. The timing of payments depends on your service.
How much sick pay do firefighters get?
Under the Grey Book, full pay for six months in any twelve-month period, then the employer may reduce pay by up to half for six months. For illness or injury arising out of authorised duty, full pay applies for twelve months. Authorities can extend sick pay in exceptional cases.
Is firefighter pay the same everywhere in the UK?
The NJC basic pay table is national, but London Fire Brigade has its own higher scale, and local allowances, CPD amounts and pay dates vary. Check your contract and your service's pay policy for the figures that apply to you.
Primary sources
- NJC — Scheme of Conditions of Service (Grey Book), 7th edition, April 2025
- NJC Circular NJC/2/26: pay award 2026 (rates from 1 July 2026)
- NJC Circular NJC/3/24: pay award 2024 (occupational maternity pay, retainer structure)
- FBU — pay settlement 2026
- London Fire Brigade — Policy 558, operational staff pay rates and sick pay (reviewed 24 July 2026)
- Scottish Government — Scottish income tax rates and bands 2026 to 2027