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Summary of Firefighter trainee terms and conditions

Operational Firefighter Apprenticeship Scheme

Firefighter trainees successful through the recruitment process will be appointed on the basis of a two-year operational Firefighter apprenticeship framework.

Training and assessment will be ongoing throughout the period in line with the requirements of the apprenticeship framework. At the end of this period, there will be a formal end-of-apprenticeship assessment which the trainee Firefighter will be required to successfully complete. Subject to successful completion trainees will become competent Wholetime Firefighters.

Pay

Salary is paid monthly directly into a Bank or Building Society account of your choice, on or around the 15th of every month.

The salary of a Wholetime firefighter is as follows:

  • Firefighter in development £30,384
  • Competent Firefighter £38,881

Leave

The leave year runs from 1st April to 31st March. For appointments made after 1st April, leave entitlement will be pro-rata based on whole months of service.

As a Firefighter you will be eligible to receive 33 days annual leave entitlement, increasing to 36 days after 5 years continuous service.

One week’s leave equates to seven consecutive days free from duty.

Flexible Working Arrangements

The Service supports family-friendly employment policies which promotes a better work-life balance and is open to future requests for flexible working arrangements to include part-time and job share working in line with its Flexible Working Policy.

This will be subject to operational ridership and workforce needs. You will be required to attend and successfully complete the trainee firefighter course and undertake all requirements of the firefighter apprenticeship scheme.

Pension

You will be contractually enrolled into the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme 2015 from the first day of your employment. If you do not wish to be a member of the scheme (or decide at some later date that you do not wish to be a member), you have the option to opt out of the Pension Scheme. Further information about the pension scheme will be issued on appointment.

Alternatively, employees may choose to make their own pension arrangements.

Sickness

An Occupational Sickness Scheme operates which is based upon length of Service with the Authority.

English Language Fluency Duty

Part 7 of the Immigration Act placed a duty on public authorities to ensure that any employee working in a customer-facing role speaks English to a fluent standard.

Any role within the Service which requires the post holder to speak to members of the public as a regular and intrinsic part of their role will be subject to this requirement.

Where this duty applies the standard of English fluency will be dependent on the nature of the customer-facing role. The Service may assess English language fluency through a formal test or interview as appropriate to the role.

No-Smoking Policy

NFRS has introduced a smoke-free working policy which sets out that employees engaged after 1 April 2016 will not be able to smoke whilst at work.

Random Drug and Alcohol Screening

Under the Service’s Substance Misuse Policy personnel in uniformed roles will be subject to random drug and alcohol screening.

Appointments

Medical Clearance and References

New appointments to the Service are subject to a pre-employment medical report/examination by our Occupational Health and Fitness Service. Drug and alcohol screening procedures will apply as part of pre-employment health and fitness checks.

Two references will also be sought in support of the applicant’s suitability for the post. The Service reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment where medical reports or references are not satisfactory.

Applicants are required to declare any medical information that potentially may impact on the role of a Firefighter.

Pre-employment Checks

Candidates will undergo several pre-employment checks before their appointment is confirmed. These are as follows:

Baseline Personnel Security Standard Checks

The Service will undertake a baseline personnel security standard check which will consist of the following elements:

Identity Check

An identity check is a check of a candidate’s identity documents to confirm they are who they say they are.  This is ensure that we are appointing someone using a fake ID, that they are pretending to be someone else and have the right to work in the UK.

Employment History

This is a check on the last three years of a candidate’s employment history/activity to identify if there have been any significant gaps in employment during that period for example.   For each appointment, one reference will be sought from the candidate’s current or previous employment.  Candidates may use an educational or character reference  (from an independent person).

Nationality and Immigration Status Checks (Right to Work)

Employers in the UK are legally required to check that a candidate has the right to work in the UK before employment commences. The candidate’s right to work will be checked by HR once they have been notified of a successful candidate. The documents required for each individual may be different and no appointment will be made until the checks have been completed and a right to work has been confirmed.

Criminal Record Check

A criminal record check will be undertaken on potential successful candidates.

The Government has legislated to enable Fire Authorities to be included in Schedule 1 Rehabilitation Of Offenders  Act 1974 (Exceptions) which allows for Fire and Rescue Authorities to conduct more comprehensive criminal records checks.

Applicants successful through the recruitment process will be subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Check as part of pre employment checks.  The DBS check will include both spent and unspent convictions, subject to filtering principles.  Filtering is the term used to describe the process that identifies which criminal records will be disclosed on a Enhanced DBS certificate. Certain old or minor offences may not be disclosed on DBS certificates and are known as ‘protected’ offences.  Further guidance on the filtering rules can be found at the following site:  Filtering rules for DBS certificates - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Medical Assessment

Candidates will be subject to a medical screening, fitness assessment and substance misuse test. For more information regarding the fitness and medical standards please refer to the guidance booklets on the website and form part of the recruitment pack.

Swimming Assessment

As part of your role, you will be training, assessed and performing rescues in rivers and open water and will need to be comfortable and confident in this environment. You will be required to complete a swimming assessment as part of the Wholetime Firefighter recruitment process and we would therefore advise that any individual who does not feel confident in water undertakes swimming lessons.

Please be aware that there are some additional checks that employees within the Service may be required to undertake to include:

Police Vetting Process

Employees who are required to have unsupervised or frequent access to Nottinghamshire Fire and Police Joint Headquarters will be required to undertake a Police vetting process.  For a candidate to be eligible for Police vetting they must have been a UK resident for the last three years.

National Security Checks

In addition to the Police vetting clearance some roles in the Service require national security clearance usually where the role has access to sensitive information, assets or equipment.

Miscellaneous provisions

Training and Development

The Service is committed to the continuous development of all its employees. Development needs are generally identified through an annual Performance Development Review process. The Service has its own Training and Development Centre at Ollerton and runs many in-house courses. However, opportunities are also available to undertake relevant qualifications or college based training, attend external seminars or undertake alternative means of job or personal development.

Fairness at Work and Equality of Opportunity

The Service is fully committed to ensuring that its employees, service users and those who come into contact with us are treated fairly, equitably and with respect. We also seek to understand and work with Nottinghamshire’s diverse communities and service users to provide a responsive and non-discriminatory service. We expect all our employees to share in this commitment, which forms one of our Core Values.

Code of Ethics

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service has adopted the national code of ethics (.pdf) for Fire and Rescue Services. This is based on the following five principles:

  • Putting our communities first
  • Integrity
  • Dignity and Respect
  • Leadership
  • Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

The Code is underpinned by a National Fire Service standard that makes it explicit that the Code also applies to corporate governance.

Employees are required to ensure compliance with the code and standard in all that they do.

Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service Values

  • We value and respect others - By treating our community and Service users with respect and consideration, we become a more customer-focused and inclusive organisation.
  • We are open to change - By understanding the need to improve, we open ourselves up to new ideas and become a more sustainable and stable organisation, ready to meet challenges we face.
  • We are professional in all that we do - We act professionally by being the best that we can be, behaving with integrity and taking personal responsibility for our behaviour and decisions.
  • We are One Team - working together We act as One Team when we respect and value each other, and work together to create safer communities.

Health and Safety

The Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service is committed to ensuring the health and safety of its employees. To this end, a Written Safety Policy outlines workplace practices and policies aimed at reducing risk to the lowest possible level, and workplace risk assessments ensure that hazards are identified, managed and monitored to protect our employees, service users and visitors to our sites.

Employee Well-Being

The Service is committed to ensuring the health and well-being of its employees. We have our own Occupational Health and Fitness Centre based at Joint Headquarters. The Centre is managed by a qualified Occupational Health and Fitness Manager, and an Occupational Health Consultant attends an on-site clinic. The Service also employs a Fitness Advisor. The Occupational Health Service provides occupational health advice, pre-employment and on-going health reviews, fitness advice, access to welfare and counselling services and some treatments such as physiotherapy.

Gym facilities are available at the main JHQ site and on stations.

The Service offers the following health benefits to its employees:

Health care - cash back scheme

The Service operates a health care scheme. Benefits include dental, optical, private consultations (to a defined limit).

Counselling, emotional support and professional advice

A dedicated Employee Assistance Provider (EAP) is available to employees seeking counselling, emotional support or help with financial, legal or family matters.