Fire Service
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DismissFire Service is a publicly funded organisation. They respond to fire emergencies.
nationalfirechiefs.org.uk/Fire-and-Rescue-ServicesWhat's the average pay for a firefighter at Fire Service?
The average pay for a firefighter at Fire Service is between £28.0k and £40.0k per year.
Last updated 10 March 2024
What is the Real Living Wage?
The Real Living Wage is a voluntary rate employers can sign up to that is based on the real cost of living.
Location | Real Living Wage |
---|---|
London | £13.15 |
Rest of the UK | £12.00 |
What is the legal minimum wage?
The minimum wage is the legal minimum you must be paid per hour.
Age group | Legal minimum wage |
---|---|
23 or older | £10.42 |
21-22 | £10.18 |
18-20 | £7.49 |
Under 18 | £5.28 |
Apprentices | £5.28 |
More about pay at Fire Service
What are firefighters saying about pay at Fire Service?
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Best thing
The pay
The responsibility
The joy in being able to help
The family unit you work day and night withWorst thing
Rude people when helping them
Fire Service Firefighter, July 2022
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Best thing
Getting to help people
Work in a team
Shift patternWorst thing
Senior managers
Training staff conflicting with information and moving goal posts
PayFire Service Firefighter, May 2022
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Best thing
Extremely rewarding work
Worst thing
Low pay
Fire Service Firefighter, April 2021
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Best thing
Work life balance, interesting work
Worst thing
Poor pay for the work we do. Older member discriminate younger members
Fire Service Firefighter, January 2021
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Best thing
I joined to use my skills to help people and I still really enjoy that aspect of the job. It's a great feeling when you've just rescued someone, saved their home or cut them from their car and handed them safely over to paramedics. It's what I joined to do
Worst thing
The pay isn't enough to support a family or even get a mortgage here in the south east. The take home pay is around £1900 per month. Can be around £2000 if you're on duty on a bank holiday or pick up a shout at the end of a couple of shifts, but that's rare. If you have children you will most certainly need to take on a second job on your off duty days which in turn means you are constantly exhausted.
It did come with the benefit of a very good pension to compensate for the poor pay, but the government have now taken that away and replaced it with one that pays far less and probably not worth signing up to.
If you do sign up for it, you'd need to work untill age 60 and do 40 years service for a full pension which would still be much much less than the previous pension and almost certainly unachievable.
Management are constantly after more work and attack our conditions almost daily. To protect ourselves we have to really be on the ball and consider very carefully what is being asked of us. This has obviously lead to a less than happy work environment unfortunately.
I don't want to tell people not to join, but be aware this job is being attacked constantly and probably isn't the job you think it is. It certainly isn't the job I joined at the start of my careerFire Service Firefighter, December 2020