Injured on duty: firefighter injury award, sick pay, pension

The layers of protection when you are hurt at work

Injury and ill health at work create a chain of entitlements, and it helps to see the sequence. First there is the immediate period off sick, covered by contractual sick pay in the Grey Book. Second, if you cannot return to your role, there is the option of redeployment or an ill-health retirement under the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme. Third, where the cause was a qualifying injury and there is permanent disablement, the Firefighters’ Compensation Scheme can add an injury award. Fourth, separate provisions cover assaults and third-party claims.

The most important message is to document everything from the day it happens. Report the incident, get medical treatment and keep copies of accident reports, medical records, fit notes and correspondence. The cause of an injury, whether it arose out of authorised duty, and the degree of disablement are all decided on evidence, and disagreements can turn on details recorded at the time.

This guide gives an overview based on the Grey Book and published scheme information. The figures below come from the Scottish Public Pensions Agency’s guide and from the Firefighters’ Compensation Scheme (England) Order 2006, and the exact rules, bands and calculations depend on the scheme and nation that apply to you. Your pension administrator and the fire and rescue authority decide individual cases, so use this as a guide to the questions to ask.

Step 1: sick pay for a duty injury

For an illness or injury arising out of authorised duty, the Grey Book gives full pay for twelve months, then up to half pay for a further six months, with the period recorded separately from ordinary sickness. You must follow the notification rules: report immediately, submit a fit note by the eighth calendar day, and provide further statements as required. Our firefighter sick pay guide explains the calculation and the rolling twelve-month rules.

Medical costs are covered in part. The employer must reimburse NHS charges under sections 77, 78 and 79 of the National Health Service Act 1977 that arise directly from an illness or injury arising out of authorised duty, and may reimburse other treatment costs as it thinks fit. If you and the employer’s medical adviser disagree about whether the injury arose out of authorised duty, an independent medical opinion should be sought, with the person agreed between you and the employer or, failing agreement, decided by the NJC Joint Secretaries.

If damages may be recoverable from a third party, such as after a road traffic collision caused by another driver, the employer must advance a sum equivalent to sick pay, and you are asked to include it in your damages claim and repay it from any loss-of-earnings element awarded. Take advice on a claim early, for example through your union; see FBU membership. Check the pay effect with the pay calculator and the payslip checker.

Step 2: ill-health retirement and the pension

If a permanent injury means you cannot continue, the pension scheme has an ill-health route. An LPPA guide to FPS 2015 says a firefighter who has not reached normal pension age (60) and who leaves because of permanent disablement may be considered for an ill-health pension, with two tiers. A lower tier requires at least three months’ qualifying service and that the person is incapable of performing any of the duties of their last role because of incapacity of mind or body continuing until normal pension age.

A higher tier requires at least five years’ qualifying service and, in addition to lower-tier qualification, that the person is incapable of regular employment, meaning employment for at least 30 hours a week on average over at least 12 consecutive months, because of incapacity continuing until normal pension age. A lower-tier pension can be partly commuted, and a higher-tier ill-health pension cannot be commuted. The decision is made by the fire and rescue authority after considering the written opinion of an independent qualified medical practitioner.

Our guide to firefighter ill-health retirement explains the process and evidence in more detail, and firefighter pension 2015 covers the scheme, with the pension calculator for estimates. The ill-health pension matters for the compensation calculation, because the injury pension is reduced by a share of it, as described below.

Step 3: the Firefighters’ Compensation Scheme injury award

The Firefighters’ Compensation Scheme provides compensation to firefighters who are injured, or made ill, in the course of their duties. The Scottish scheme guide describes it as covering firefighters who sustain a serious injury in the execution of their duties that leads to a permanent disability, and says an award is denied only where the injury results from the firefighter’s own serious culpable negligence or misconduct. The England Order defines permanent disablement as disablement likely to be permanent at the time the question arises, having regard to whether it will continue until normal pension age.

An independent qualified medical practitioner (IQMP) assesses the long-term impairment, and the authority makes the decision. The degree of disablement is placed in one of four bands: slight (25% or less), minor (more than 25% but not more than 50%), major (more than 50% but not more than 75%) and severe (more than 75%). Under the Scottish guide you have 14 to 28 days, depending on the pension scheme, to accept or appeal the recommendation, so note the deadline in any decision letter.

The scheme then sets a minimum income guarantee as a percentage of your average pensionable pay, depending on the band and your length of service. The injury pension is that guarantee, less 75% of your gross ill-health pension, less the presumed value of certain state benefits. The England Order says the injury pension is reduced by three quarters of any other pension referable to service as a firefighter, including ill-health awards. There is also a one-off injury gratuity, calculated as a percentage of average pensionable pay.

Worked example: how the injury pension is calculated

The SPPA guide gives its own example: a band 3 firefighter with 24 years’ service and average pensionable pay of £38,000 has a 75% guarantee (£28,500), less £11,250 (75% of a £15,000 ill-health pension) and £2,000 of presumed benefits, giving an injury pension of £15,250 a year and a gratuity of £14,250 (37.5% of £38,000). Here is a second, fully hypothetical example that shows the steps for someone earlier in their career.

Suppose a firefighter with 12 years’ service and average pensionable pay of £40,000 is assessed as band 2 (minor disablement) after a qualifying injury and retires with an ill-health pension of £8,000 a year. The minimum income guarantee for band 2 at 5 to 15 years is 50%, or £20,000. Deduct 75% of the ill-health pension (£6,000) and, say, £1,500 of presumed state benefits: the injury pension is £12,500 a year. The gratuity for band 2 is 25% of £40,000, or £10,000, paid as a lump sum.

All the numbers in the second example are invented for illustration. Real awards depend on the IQMP’s assessment, your service, the pension scheme you were in, the average pensionable pay definition and the benefits deemed payable. Use the free ill-health and injury calculator to explore your own case, and the paid ill-health and injury report for a fuller, personalised breakdown.

Assault, death and permanent disablement payments in the Grey Book

Section 6 of the Grey Book adds a separate provision for violence at work. Fire and rescue employers make payments to an employee, or jointly to dependants in the event of death, where death or permanent disablement arises from a violent or criminal assault, including explosive devices, suffered in the course or as a consequence of employment. In the event of death within twelve months by reason of the assault where dependants remain, the payment is the equivalent of five years’ gross remuneration or £35,000, whichever is greater.

For permanent total or partial disablement, the payment is a percentage of five years’ gross remuneration (or £35,000 if greater), set by a scale in the Grey Book: 100% for death, total loss of sight in one or both eyes, or total loss or loss of use of one or both hands or feet, and for permanent total and absolute disablement; and specified percentages for partial disablement such as 40% for total loss of hearing in both ears and 20% for complete loss of use of a hip, knee or ankle. At the employer’s discretion, payments may be reduced by damages or compensation recoverable for the same injuries, and they may be abated by certain pension gratuities.

These provisions are separate from the compensation scheme and sick pay, and they only apply to assaults. If you are a victim of assault at work, tell your service and seek advice on criminal injuries compensation and civil claims as well. See firefighter mental health support if you need help with the psychological effects.

Practical steps if you are injured on duty

Speed and paperwork help. The steps below follow the Grey Book and the compensation scheme’s decision-making structure, but always read your own service’s injury reporting policy.

1. Get medical help and report the incident to your supervisor, and make sure an accident report is completed.
2. Notify your service’s nominated contact of your absence immediately, and submit fit notes on time (first by the eighth calendar day).
3. Keep copies of the accident report, medical records, witness details, fit notes and all correspondence.
4. Ask whether the absence is recorded as arising out of authorised duty, and challenge it early if you disagree; an independent medical opinion can be sought.
5. Take advice from your union or a solicitor about any third-party claim before signing anything, and tell the employer about any damages claim.
6. If you are unlikely to return, ask about redeployment, ill-health retirement and the compensation scheme, and ask for the pension administrator’s written explanation of figures.
7. Note deadlines for accepting or appealing medical assessments and decisions.