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National Joint Council for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services
Employers’ Secretary,
Naomi Cooke
Local Government Association,
18 Smith Square, Westminster,
London
SW1P 3HZ
e-mail: [email protected]
Employees’ Secretary,
Matt Wrack Bradley House,
68 Coombe Rd
Kingston upon Thames
KT2 7AE
Telephone 020 8541 1765
To: Chief Fire Officers
Chief Executives/Clerks to Fire Authorities
Chairs of Fire Authorities
Directors of HR (Fire Authorities)
Members of the National Joint Council
20 May 2024
Circular NJC/3/24
Dear Sir/Madam
Pay award 2024
1.The NJC has agreed an increase of 4.0 per cent with effect from 1 July 2024. This circular contains the revised rates of pay from 1 July 2024:
| Appendix A | Pay rates for firefighting roles |
| Appendix B | Pay rates for the retained duty system |
| Appendix C | Pay rates for control specific roles |
| Appendix D | Pay rates for non-operational staff and junior firefighters |
2. In all cases annual figures are rounded to the nearest pound and hourly rates are derived from the appropriate annual figure divided by 52.143 (rounded to nearest penny) then by 42 (rounded to nearest penny).
3. As part of the 2024 pay agreement, changes will be made to the RDS retainer fee structure. However, these changes will not come into effect until 1 January 2025.
4. For the interim period, the usual RDS rates will apply as indicated in Appendix B (note these have been uprated by 4.0 per cent to reflect the pay agreement).
5. Further communications on the new retainer fee structure will be issued in due course by NJC joint circular. Details of the agreed changes to the retainer fee structure can be found at Appendix E.
6. The NJC has agreed that Continual Professional Development payments will also increase by 4.0 per cent with effect from 1 July 2024. Please see the separate NJC circular for the increased payments (NJC/4/24 refers).
7.The NJC pay agreement also contains an improvement to the Grey Book occupational maternity provision:
- 26 weeks at full pay (inclusive of all allowances and CPD)
- followed by 13 weeks at SMP.
8. An NJC circular will be issued in due course to provide further information about the implementation of this part of the agreement.
Yours faithfully,
Naomi Cooke
Matt Wrack
Joint Secretaries
Appendix A
| Basic annual £ | Basic hourly rate £ | Overtime rate £ | |
|---|---|---|---|
Firefighter |
|||
| Trainee | 28,265 | 12.91 | 19.37 |
| Development | 29,442 | 13.44 | 20.16 |
| Competent | 37,675 | 17.20 | 25.80 |
Crew manager |
|||
| Development | 40,041 | 18.28 | 27.42 |
| Competent | 41,767 | 19.07 | 28.61 |
Watch manager |
|||
| Development | 42,672 | 19.48 | 29.22 |
| Competent A | 43,857 | 20.03 | 30.05 |
| Competent B | 46,707 | 21.33 | 32.00 |
Station manager |
|||
| Development | 48,580 | 22.18 | 33.27 |
| Competent A | 50,041 | 22.85 | 34.28 |
| Competent B | 53,586 | 24.47 | 36.71 |
Group manager |
|||
| Development | 55,953 | 25.55 | Not applicable |
| Competent A | 57,632 | 26.32 | Not applicable |
| Competent B | 62,028 | 28.32 | Not applicable |
Area manager |
|||
| Development | 65,690 | 30.00 | Not applicable |
| Competent A | 67,658 | 30.89 | Not applicable |
| Competent B | 72,054 | 32.90 | Not applicable |
Appendix B
| (1) £ per Annum | (2) £ per annum | (3) £ per Hour | (4) £ per occasion | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Firefighter |
||||
| Trainee | 2,827 | 1,413 | 12.91 | 4.96 |
| Development | 2,944 | 1,472 | 13.44 | 4.96 |
| Competent | 3,768 | 1,884 | 17.20 | 4.96 |
Crew manager |
||||
| Development | 4,004 | 2,002 | 18.28 | 4.96 |
| Competent | 4,177 | 2,088 | 19.07 | 4.96 |
Watch manager |
||||
| Development | 4,267 | 2,134 | 19.48 | 4.96 |
| Competent A | 4,386 | 2,193 | 20.03 | 4.96 |
| Competent B | 4,671 | 2,335 | 21.33 | 4.96 |
Station manager |
||||
| Development | 4,858 | 2,429 | 22.18 | 4.96 |
| Competent A | 5,004 | 2,502 | 22.85 | 4.96 |
| Competent B | 5,359 | 2,679 | 24.47 | 4.96 |
Group manager |
||||
| Development | 5,595 | 2,798 | 25.55 | 4.96 |
| Competent A | 5,763 | 2,882 | 26.32 | 4.96 |
| Competent B | 6,203 | 3,101 | 28.32 | 4.96 |
Area manager |
||||
| Development | 6,569 | 3,285 | 30.00 | 4.96 |
| Competent A | 6,766 | 3,383 | 30.89 | 4.96 |
| Competent B | 7,205 | 3,603 | 32.90 | 4.96 |
- Column 1 shows the full annual retainer (10 per cent of the full-time basic annual salary, as set out in Appendix A)
- Column 2 shows the retainer for employees on the day crewing duty system (5 per cent of the full-time basic annual salary, as set out in Appendix A)
- Column 3 shows the hourly rate for work undertaken
- Column 4 shows the disturbance payment per call-out
Appendix C
| Basic annual* £ | Basic hourly rate £ | Overtime rate £ | |
|---|---|---|---|
Firefighter (Control) |
|||
| Trainee | 26,852 | 12.26 | 18.39 |
| Development | 27,970 | 12.77 | 19.16 |
| Competent | 35,791 | 16.34 | 24.51 |
Crew manager (Control) |
|||
| Development | 38,039 | 17.37 | 26.06 |
| Competent | 39,679 | 18.12 | 27.18 |
Watch manager (Control) |
|||
| Development | 40,538 | 18.51 | 27.77 |
| Competent A | 41,664 | 19.02 | 28.53 |
| Competent B | 44,372 | 20.26 | 30.39 |
Station manager (Control) |
|||
| Development | 46,151 | 21.07 | 31.61 |
| Competent A | 47,539 | 21.71 | 32.57 |
| Competent B | 50,907 | 23.25 | 34.88 |
Group manager (Control) |
|||
| Development | 53,155 | 24.27 | Not applicable |
| Competent A | 54,750 | 25.00 | Not applicable |
| Competent B | 58,927 | 26.91 | Not applicable |
*(95 per cent of the respective firefighting role basic annual salary, as set out in Appendix A)
Appendix D
| £ per annum | |
|---|---|
| Fire Control Operator equivalent | |
| During first six months | 24,073 |
| After six months and during 2nd year | 25,141 |
| During 3rd year | 26,334 |
| During 4th year | 27,629 |
| During 5th year | 30,093 |
| Leading Fire Control Operator equivalent | 32,228 |
| Senior Fire Control Operator equivalent | |
| During 1st year in rank | 33,051 |
| During 2nd year in rank | 34,305 |
| £ per annum | |
|---|---|
| Aged 16 | 13,076 |
| Aged 17 | 14,050 |
| Aged 18 | 28,265 |
Appendix E
From 1 January 2025:
The annual retainer for an employee providing full cover (which is defined as cover of at least 120 hours per week) is 15 per cent of the appropriate annual basic pay.
Where an employee provides cover for less than 120 hours per week the following bands may be applied:
- Up to and including 30 hours per week, 5 per cent
- from 31 hours per week and up to and including 60 hours per week, 7.5 per cent
- from 61 hours per week and up to and including 90 hours per week, 10 per cent
- from 91 hours per week and up to and including 119 hours, 12.5 per cent.
It is important to note that existing local agreements that already exist outside of the grey book are unaffected by this amendment.