On-Call (Retained) Firefighter Pension: What You Get

Can on-call firefighters join the firefighter pension?

Yes. The official member website says membership of FPS 2015 is open to firefighters who are whole-time, part-time, retained and volunteer, provided the job requires you to engage in firefighting, resolve operational incidents, or lead and support others in doing so. You are automatically put into the scheme when you start, as part of your contract, and if you are employed on a temporary basis you may not be able to join, so ask your fire and rescue authority.

The scheme is automatic but not compulsory: you can opt out, as covered in firefighter pension opt-out. For retained firefighters that decision is often finely balanced, because pensionable pay may be modest, but the cost is also modest, and death and ill-health cover are worth having. Ask your service to explain both sides before you decide.

If you are considering becoming on-call, the on-call pay calculator and how to become an on-call firefighter cover the practicalities; this guide focuses on the pension.

What counts as pensionable pay for on-call firefighters

The official definition of pensionable pay includes pay for performing the duties of your role, except for allowances paid on a temporary basis, permanent elements of pay including, for a retained firefighter, any retaining allowance, amounts given up under salary sacrifice, and CPD payments if the authority has determined they should be pensionable. That means the retaining allowance counts, while whether payments for call-outs, drills and other work count depends on your authority’s determination and the regulations.

I could not verify a single national rule on whether call-out pay is pensionable, so ask your payroll or pensions team for a written list of which payments are pensionable, with dates. It matters because your pension credit and contribution rate are based on the pay that counts. Site pay data shows the full retainer for a competent firefighter at £6,054 a year from 1 July 2026 (15% of £40,358), but many services have their own arrangements.

Where your pay is stopped or reduced, for sickness, injury, child-related leave or unpaid leave, assumed pensionable pay can apply so that your pension is not affected, automatically in some cases and on repaying contributions in others.

Contributions: actual pay, not full-time equivalent

In England, from 1 April 2026, FPS 2015 contribution rates are set by actual pensionable pay: 11.09% up to £36,130, 12.59% from £36,131 to £45,407, 14.09% to £66,908, 15.59% to £190,691 and 17.09% above. The official website says that if you work part time or are a retained firefighter, the percentage is determined by the actual pensionable pay received rather than the wholetime equivalent. The government’s consultation response says this was chosen partly because full-time equivalent banding could indirectly disadvantage part-time and retained firefighters.

Your authority assesses the rate at the start of each scheme year (1 April), or on joining, and can adjust it if pay changes permanently, for example after a big increase in your retaining fee. If you have more than one firefighter role, each is treated separately and has its own rate. To assess the band in April, the pay for that month is multiplied by 12 (or 13 for 4-weekly pay) and compared with the bands.

In Wales, from 1 September 2025, retained and volunteer firefighters always pay the lowest tier, 13.0%, whatever their grade, according to Welsh Government circular W-FRSC(2025)14. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own bands; see the Scottish scheme guide and the Northern Ireland guide. The contributions calculator can show the English effect.

Worked examples: what on-call pay builds in FPS 2015

The table shows how three assumed levels of pensionable pay build pension in the English scheme. Case A is the retaining fee only, £6,054. Case B adds £2,000 of other pay if your authority treats it as pensionable, and Case C adds £6,000. All figures are illustrations; the extra pay is assumed, not a rule.

The annual credit is pay ÷ 59.7. For £6,054 it is £101.41, for £8,054 it is £134.91 and for £12,054 it is £201.91. Over 20 years with no revaluation these build £2,028, £2,698 and £4,038 a year; with an assumed 3% revaluation on the opening balance each year, about £2,725, £3,625 and £5,425. In every case the contribution is in the first band, 11.09% of the actual pay: £671.39, £893.19 and £1,336.79 a year.

Set against a wholetime career, this shows why the pension of a retained firefighter with modest pensionable pay is smaller, but it also shows that contributions are proportionately smaller. Many retained firefighters also have a main job with another pension, so the retained pension is one part of a wider plan. The pension calculator can model your own pay.

Before 6 April 2006: the Matthews case and buying back service

The official website explains that before 6 April 2006, retained (part-time or on-call) firefighters were excluded from joining the firefighters’ pension scheme. That exclusion was challenged, and changes allowed those firefighters to buy pension for the period they could not join, bringing their options in line with full-time colleagues. The exercise is known as Matthews, and there have been two phases. The first options exercise finished in September 2015 and the second runs until 31 March 2027.

Eligible members are those employed as a retained firefighter between 7 April 2000 and 30 June 2000, and/or 1 July 2000 and 5 April 2006 who were not given the option to join FPS 2006 (special) in the first exercise. If you left on or before 6 April 2000, you are not eligible. A local pension board report explains the underlying settlement, under the Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000, and says the 31 March 2027 deadline has been confirmed with no further extension.

If you did not buy your service in the first phase but are now eligible, you have a further opportunity. Members who choose to buy build pension in the firefighters’ pension scheme 2006 (special) section. You can purchase service from the date you started retained employment through to the date you left retained service (up to 31 March 2015) or the date you joined the scheme, and if you had a break in service, the date the break started. You pay missed contributions, so a quotation and an option form are needed.

How retained service was counted in the 2006 scheme, and special members

For retained members in the standard 2006 section, the official site explains that pensionable service is worked out from pay, because retained firefighters do not work fixed hours: actual pensionable pay is compared with the pay a whole-time regular firefighter in the same role would have received in that scheme year, the reference pay. In its example, three years produced 0.6915 of a year of pensionable service. A short calendar of retained service therefore counts as a small fraction of a year, which is why buying and understanding the credit matters.

The 2006 special (modified) section was created so that retained firefighters get benefits that broadly mirror the 1992 scheme. The LGA’s factsheets and SPPA’s Scottish page give a uniform accrual of 1/45, a normal pension age of 55, a deferred pension age of 60, fixed commutation factors and a death grant of two times pensionable pay for the Scottish modified scheme. Check the English figures with your administrator; the official English site describes the special section as reflecting 1992 rules.

From April 2022 all members moved to FPS 2015, so no further pension builds in the special section. For a comparison with the other schemes see FPS 2006 explained and FPS 1992 vs 2006 vs 2015.

Remedy, dual roles and other special situations

The age discrimination remedy applies to retained members too, if the tests are met: in pensionable service, or eligible to be an active member of a legacy scheme, on 31 March 2012, service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022, and no gap of five years or more. The LGA’s eligibility guide says that many firefighters have multiple employments, for example wholetime and retained roles, that transitional protection applies to the member not the employment, and that some authorities applied it more narrowly. All relevant positions must be treated as remediable where the conditions are met. See the remediable service statement guide.

If you carry out more than one role, the official retirement page says you can choose to retire from each role at different or the same dates. A wholetime firefighter with a retained second job therefore has separate pension accounts and contribution rates, and may face separate annual allowance calculations, although most will be well below £60,000.

Two other points: members employed on retained duty in Wales pay the lowest contribution tier, and the LGA publishes a factsheet on compensatory ill-health pensions for retained firefighters employed before 6 April 2006, which applies to certain historic cases; ask your administrator whether it affects you.

What to do next as an on-call firefighter

Because so much depends on how your service treats your pay and on your history, a short list of questions goes a long way.

1. Ask for a written list of which of your payments are pensionable.
2. Check your contribution band or tier and the date it took effect.
3. If you served before April 2006, ask about the Matthews options exercise and get a quotation before the 31 March 2027 deadline.
4. If you also hold a wholetime or other public service job, ask how each record is linked and whether remedy applies.
5. Request your annual benefit statement and check the service and pay used.