Plan what on-call firefighting could really pay.
Pick your role and retainer band, then add the call-outs you expect, their length and your drill hours. See annual and monthly earnings, how much is guaranteed retainer, and what each retainer band would change.
About your on-call cover
Where the money comes from
Firefighter · CompetentMore than half is retainer, so income is steady whether or not the pagers go off. Other payments (drill, disturbance, overtime) total £2,363.
Same activity, different retainer band
Yours is markedRetainer bands follow availability: 5% for up to 30 hours a week, 7.5% for 31 to 60, 10% for 61 to 90, 12.5% for 91 to 119 and 15% for full cover of 120 hours or more.
Illustrative planning estimate based on published rules, not financial, legal, pension or tax advice. Your payroll record, contract and scheme administrator control your actual position.
How on-call firefighter pay works
On-call (retained duty system) firefighters are not paid an annual salary. Under the Grey Book and NJC circular NJC/2/26, pay has four parts. The annual retainer is paid for providing availability and is a percentage of the wholetime basic pay for your role and stage. Work activity, which covers scheduled drill night and maintenance duties as well as attending incidents, is paid at the basic hourly rate. A disturbance payment of £5.31 is paid for each call-out. And overtime applies only where you work more than 42 hours in a seven-day period. This planner adds those pieces together for the role you choose, using the same pay data as the site's national pay table.
For the concept behind each payment read the on-call firefighter pay guide, and for worked yearly examples see the on-call annual earnings guide. If you also work wholetime, use the pay report for that side of your income.
Retainer bands from 1 January 2025
Before 2025 the full retainer was 10% of basic pay. From 1 January 2025 the NJC changed the structure so that full cover of 120 hours or more a week is 15%, with lower bands where you provide less availability. The bands are set against the hours you commit to each week, and the amount is a percentage of the wholetime basic pay for your role and stage, so it grows with a promotion or a pay award.
| Band | Weekly cover | Development FF (£31,539) | Competent FF (£40,358) | Competent Crew Manager (£44,742) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5% | up to 30 hours | £1,577 | £2,018 | £2,237 |
| 7.5% | 31 to 60 | £2,365 | £3,027 | £3,356 |
| 10% | 61 to 90 | £3,154 | £4,036 | £4,474 |
| 12.5% | 91 to 119 | £3,942 | £5,045 | £5,593 |
| 15% | 120+ (full cover) | £4,731 | £6,054 | £6,711 |
The 15% and 5% figures match NJC/2/26; the lower bands are the Grey Book percentages applied to the annual basic pay. A retainer can be reduced proportionately if you miss training and maintenance duties, which is what the "retainer actually paid" input is for. Local agreements outside the Grey Book may differ, so your contract governs.
How call-out pay is calculated
A crew member called to an emergency incident is paid a minimum of one hour. If they remain on duty for more than one hour and fifteen minutes they are paid two hours, and after two hours they are paid for complete periods of fifteen minutes, all at the basic hourly rate, plus the £5.31 disturbance payment. At £18.43 an hour a 40-minute call pays £23.74, a call of one hour twenty pays £42.17 and a three-hour incident pays £60.60. The planner turns your "typical time on incident" into paid hours using exactly this rule, and the Call-out pay tab shows the table for your own role.
Worked examples (competent firefighter, gross, 1 July 2026 rates)
These use 104 hours of drill a year (two hours a week) and come from the site's on-call earnings guide. The planner reproduces each one when you enter the same numbers.
| Example | Retainer | Incident pay | Drill | Disturbance | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full cover, 80 calls, 2 h paid each | £6,054 | £2,948.80 | £1,916.72 | £424.80 | £11,344.32 |
| 10% band, 40 calls, 1 h each | £4,036 | £737.20 | £1,916.72 | £212.40 | £6,902.32 |
| Development, full cover, 60 calls, 1 h | £4,731 | £864.00 | £1,497.60 | £318.60 | £7,411.20 |
| 5% band, 25 calls, 1 h | £2,018 | £460.75 | £1,916.72 | £132.75 | £4,528.22 |
| 12.5% band, 100 calls, 2 h paid | £5,045 | £3,686.00 | £1,916.72 | £531.00 | £11,178.72 |
| Full cover, 200 calls, 2 h paid | £6,054 | £7,372.00 | £1,916.72 | £1,062.00 | £16,404.72 |
The examples show why comparing stations is hard. The retainer rewards availability and is broadly predictable, while incident pay depends on your station's call profile, the times you are available and how many crew turn out. Ask your service how many incidents your station attended in each of the last three years and how many people turned out on average.
Retainer share and why it matters
The retainer share tells you how exposed your income is to station activity. A high share means most pay arrives whether or not the pagers go off, and a low share means income swings with incident volume. In the first example above the retainer is 53% of the total; in the 5% band example it is only 45%, and drill is the biggest piece. The planner draws the share as a meter and a donut, and the band comparison chart shows how much of the extra pay from moving up a band is fixed.
Tax: on-call as a second income
The Tax tab's free line assumes on-call pay is your only taxable income with a standard code. Many on-call firefighters have a main job. GOV.UK explains that you get a tax code for each employment, and that codes such as BR (all income taxed at the basic rate) are usually used where you have more than one job or pension, while your main job normally carries the personal allowance. That means on-call pay may be taxed at 20% with no allowance, and if your combined income takes you into the higher-rate band you could owe extra tax later. National Insurance is normally worked out per employment. The paid On-Call Earnings Planner compares the basic-rate code with the tax you would really owe on your combined income, given your main salary. See the tax code guide too.
What the free planner does not model
Public holiday enhancements (double disturbance and activity payments), overtime rules beyond a simple hours input, acting-up, lost-earnings compensation from a main employer, CPD pay pro rata and payments for attending training centres are not modelled, and local agreements can add or change them. The free planner shows a single average month. The paid planner adds a twelve-month model with seasonal call patterns, availability scenarios, a call-out target solver and the second-income tax comparison.
Common mistakes
- Using your busiest month as the average. Model a quiet, typical and busy month; the paid planner does this by month.
- Forgetting unpaid time. Waiting on availability may only be covered by the retainer. Check how your service records paid activity.
- Assuming the national retainer applies unchanged. Local bands and contracts can differ.
- Ignoring the tax code. A second job's code can take 20% from the first pound.
- Counting on-call pay as pensionable or mortgageable without checking. See the mortgage readiness check for how lenders may treat it.
Frequently asked questions
How much do on-call firefighters earn a year?
It depends on your retainer band, how many call-outs you attend and your drill hours. On the July 2026 rates a competent firefighter's retainer runs from £2,018 (5% band) to £6,054 (full 15% cover) before payment for call-outs and drill, so the worked examples on this page range from about £4,500 to over £16,000 a year. The planner shows the total from your own numbers.
What are the on-call retainer bands?
Since 1 January 2025 the Grey Book retainer is a percentage of the wholetime basic pay for your role and stage: 15% for full cover of 120 hours or more a week, and lower bands of 12.5% (91 to 119 hours), 10% (61 to 90), 7.5% (31 to 60) and 5% (up to 30 hours). A day-crewing employee doing retained duties receives 5%. Your contract says which applies to you.
Are call-outs paid on top of the retainer?
Yes. The retainer pays for availability. Activity, including drill night, is paid separately at the basic hourly rate, and a £5.31 disturbance payment is added for each call-out. A crew member is paid a minimum of one hour per call, two hours if they stay more than 1 hour 15 minutes, then complete 15-minute periods.
How many hours of drill should I put in?
The Grey Book expects training, development and maintenance duties to average about two hours a week (three at a service's discretion), which is about 104 hours a year. That is the default. Use your contract's figure if it differs.
Is on-call pay taxed differently?
Not in itself. Tax depends on your total income and tax code. If on-call is a second job, HMRC often gives it a basic-rate code such as BR, which taxes all of it at 20% with no personal allowance. GOV.UK describes BR as usually used where you have more than one job or pension. The premium planner compares that with the tax you would really owe.
Does on-call pay count for a pension?
That depends on your scheme and contract, so the planner does not assume any pension deduction on on-call earnings. Check with your pension administrator.
Can I use the planner if I am wholetime?
Yes, if you also hold an on-call contract or are considering one. Use the pay report for wholetime pay and this planner for the on-call element.
Are my inputs stored?
Calculations run in your browser and your answers are kept in this browser's local storage. Only coarse analytics buckets are recorded, never your exact figures.
Sources and assumptions
- LGA: NJC firefighter pay circular NJC/2/26: hourly and overtime rates, disturbance payment and the 15% and 5% retainers (as held in
firePayData.ts); lower bands per the Grey Book. - NFCC: on-call firefighting: background on the role and availability.
- GOV.UK: tax codes (BR: taxed at the basic rate, usually used with more than one job or pension).
- Assumptions: retainer bands as a percentage of wholetime basic pay; activity paid at the hourly rate; call-out paid time per the Grey Book crew-member rule; overtime at the published rate; disturbance £5.31; expected call-outs, hours and drill are your inputs. Local retainer bands, recording rules and pensionability are not modelled. Illustrative, not advice; your contract and payroll control.