A real year, not an average
Give the year a winter-heavy or summer-heavy shape, or type in your station's own monthly calls, and see the busiest and quietest months.
On-Call Earnings Planner · £9.99 one-time
One payment · no subscriptionSee a whole year of on-call earnings, not just an average month.
Model retainer, call-outs, drill and disturbance pay month by month, compare availability bands, find how many call-outs you need for an income target, and see the tax on on-call as a second income. The model below already uses your numbers.
Availability scenarios
Compare all five retainer bands against quiet, as-modelled and busy stations, and solve for the call-outs needed to reach an income target.
Tax as a second income
See what a BR code takes, what you really owe on combined income, and the year-end gap, then print the plan or export it.
About your on-call cover
Role and retainer
Retainer is a % of the wholetime basic pay for this role (NJC, from 1 July 2026).
Retainer band (hours of weekly cover)15%: 120+ hours (full cover)
%
Below 100 if the retainer is reduced for missed drills or trainingCall-outs
Drill and other pay
h
Grey Book expects about 2h
Only over 42 h in a week£
CPD, local paymentsIllustrative planning estimate based on published rules, not financial, legal, pension or tax advice. Your payroll record, contract and scheme administrator control your actual position.
Try the free on-call earnings planner first: it stays free.
What the planner is for
The free on-call earnings planner gives an annual total from an average month. Real on-call life is not average. Some months are busy, some are quiet, and your availability may change with your main job, family and training. This planner turns the average into a twelve-month model you can inspect month by month, then adds scenarios for how much cover you offer and a tax comparison for on-call as a second income. It suits current on-call firefighters, wholetime staff considering an on-call contract, and people weighing a move from another job into on-call work.
What is inside
- Twelve-month model with retainer, call-out pay, drill, disturbance payments and overtime for each month, and a stacked chart of where each month's money comes from.
- Call pattern presets (even, winter-heavy, summer-heavy) and fully editable monthly call counts. The presets are illustrative shapes, not data, and average your monthly call-outs.
- Call mix: split calls into those paid one, two or three hours, instead of using one average length, to follow the Grey Book minimum-hour rules.
- Availability scenarios: all five retainer bands (5%, 7.5%, 10%, 12.5%, 15%) against a quiet, as-modelled and busy station, plus the call-outs needed a month to reach a target income at each band.
- Second-income tax: tax under a basic-rate code versus tax on combined income, National Insurance per employment or combined, and the year-end gap.
- Exports: CSV of the monthly model, a print or save-as-PDF plan with an AI-written briefing, saving to your account, and AI answers about your numbers.
How the numbers are built
The retainer is a percentage of the matching wholetime salary in the NJC table effective 1 July 2026: 15% for full cover down to 5%, per the Grey Book bands from 1 January 2025. Activity is paid at the hourly rate, overtime at the published rate and each disturbance at £5.31. Call-out paid time follows the Grey Book crew-member rule, a minimum of one hour, two hours beyond 1 hour 15 minutes, then complete 15-minute periods. Call-outs and hours are yours. For the concept behind these payments see the on-call firefighter pay guide and the annual earnings examples, and for tax see the tax code guide. The tax section follows GOV.UK's description of tax codes: BR taxes all income at the basic rate and is usually used for a second job or pension.
Honest limits
This is a planning model, not a payroll promise. Local retainer bands, recording rules, pensionability of on-call pay, public holiday enhancements, acting-up and lost-earnings payments are not modelled, and service-specific terms can change the result. Seasonal shapes are illustrative, so replace them with your station's history before relying on the monthly figures. If your figures and your payslip disagree, the payslip and your payroll department are right. For wholetime pay, use the pay report.
Frequently asked questions
What does the paid planner add to the free one?
The free planner shows one average month and one annual total. The paid planner builds a full twelve-month model with a seasonal call pattern you can edit, an optional call mix, availability scenarios across all five retainer bands, a solver for how many call-outs you need to reach an income target, a second-income tax comparison, a printable plan, CSV export, saving to your account and unlimited AI answers.
Is it a subscription?
No. It is a single payment of £9.99. Guest checkout works, and a free account afterwards keeps your access on every device.
Where do the retainer bands come from?
From the Grey Book and NJC circular NJC/2/26: 15% of wholetime basic pay for full cover of 120 hours or more a week, then 12.5% (91 to 119 hours), 10% (61 to 90), 7.5% (31 to 60) and 5% (up to 30 hours), effective 1 January 2025. Your contract says which applies, and local arrangements can differ, so there is an 'Other' option to enter your own percentage.
Are the seasonal shapes real data?
No. Winter-heavy, summer-heavy and even are illustrative shapes that each average your call-outs per month. They exist so you can see how a lumpy year feels. Replace them with your station's real monthly history, which your service can provide.
How is the second-income tax worked out?
You enter your main job pay. The planner compares the 20% a basic-rate code would take from the on-call pay with the extra tax you would really owe on your combined income, and shows the year-end gap. National Insurance is per employment when the employers differ, and combined when the same payroll pays both.
Are my figures uploaded?
Calculations run in your browser and your plan is kept in this browser's local storage. If you save a plan it goes to your account, and AI questions send your plan's figures to the AI service. Analytics never see exact figures.
What is not modelled?
Public holiday enhancements, overtime beyond a simple hours input, acting-up, compensation for lost earnings from a main employer, CPD pro rata and local agreements. Pensionability of on-call pay is also not assumed. Your contract and payroll control.