Contributions

What you pay (known as a contribution) is taken from your salary each month. There are different bands based on your actual pay. 

Actual pay	Contribution rate
Up to £36,130	11.0%
£36,131 to £45,407	12.59%
£45,408 to £66,908	14.09%
£66,909 to £190,691	15.59%
£190,692 and above	17.09%

Tax relief
As a member of firefighters’ pension scheme 2015, if you earn enough to pay tax, your contributions will attract tax relief when they are deducted from your pensionable pay. Essentially this means that you don’t have to pay as much tax because you’re saving for later.

The Government sets some restrictions around how much you can build up in a pension each year – this is known about the annual allowance. You can find out more about this in the annual allowance section. 

Part time and retained

If you work part time or are a retained firefighter, the percentage that you pay is determined based on the actual pensionable pay received rather than the wholetime equivalent pay.

Find out what happens to your contributions if you have a period of absence.

Assessment

If you have more than one role, you will make separate contributions based on the pensionable pay for each role you carry out.

Your fire and rescue authority will determine the initial contribution rate at the start of each scheme year (1 April). For new joiners this will be assessed on date of joining.

If your pay changes during the year your fire and rescue authority should adjust contribution bands where a change in pensionable pay is permanent or expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

If you have more than one firefighter role, each role is treated separately. A distinct contribution rate is set for each employment based on the actual pay for that specific role.

To determine the appropriate banding, in April, a member’s pensionable pay in that month will be multiplied by 12 (or 13 if you have a 4-weekly pay frequency) and compared to the bandings in the table above.

Pensionable pay is similar to your salary but has a specific definition.

Pensionable pay includes:

• Pay received for the performance of the duties of your role, except for any allowances or emoluments paid on a temporary basis;
• Your permanent elements of pay (including, in the case of a retained firefighter, any retaining allowance);
• Any amount you agree to give up for salary sacrifice arrangements such as cycle to work schemes;
• The amount paid for continued professional development (CPD) if the authority has determined that this should be pensionable.

Any payments made by an employer to a member who is on reserve forces service leave would not count as pensionable.