Pay and benefits for on-call firefighters

Being an on-call firefighter is a paid, professional role.

On-call firefighters receive a standby rate for the hours they spend on-call and further disturbance fees and hourly rates for attending incidents and drill nights.

Rates of pay

The following standby and call-out rates per hour currently apply:

Role Standby Call out
Firefighter Trainee N/A £12.41
Firefighter in development £0.46 £12.93
Firefighter Competent £0.58 £16.54

On-call firefighters can expect to earn £5,000-£9,000 per year, depending on the station they are attached to and the number of call-outs they attend.

Paid holiday

We offer a generous annual leave allowance that is pro-rata to full cover (120 hours per week). The leave allowance is four weeks per year, rising to five weeks after five years of continuous service.

Pension, training and benefits

On-call firefighters can apply to join the firefighter’s pension scheme and do receive sick pay. We pay for all of your training (worth approximately £7,000) and you will learn valuable transferable skills that you can use in your personal and work life. 

As an employee of Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, you’ll get access to:

  • the county council staff discount scheme for a range of retailers, holidays, insurance, eating out, health and leisure activities
  • the national Blue Light Card discount scheme for emergencies service, the NHS and the military
  • initiatives and a range of activities to support your health and wellbeing including an employee assistance programme, mindfulness and resilience training

Personal gain

Many on-call firefighters find the biggest benefit is the knowledge they are serving and protecting their community, and the team camaraderie. We’ve even had some self-employed on-call firefighters say it’s an asset to their business as they become better known to their local community and are trusted by people in the area.

Would you like to join the team?

If you are applying as a wholetime or on-call firefighter, you could receive over £7000 worth of free training that will prepare you to protect and save lives in your community.

We currently have vacancies across Oxfordshire. Select your area to find out how to apply:

Note: Our partner, Hampshire County Council, administers our jobs website and application process