To think on call firefighters is exploitative

[cheesyinkent]

And to encourage ds (21) to not try to get a job there. They basically want firefighters on call that are paid virtually nothing unless they get called out, and at that point they earn just above min wage.

You have to never be more than 10 mins away from the station for 60 hours a week but no guarantee of any work at all. It's like all the risk of a firefighter with no benefits.

Aibu to just think they should employ people normally and compensate them accordingly?

Although thinking about it, we live in a small town that doesn't have a permanent firestation. Our single firetruck is run by charity donations.

So probably a very different set up.

Its not a "job" - its voluntary work, to gain experience and insight, and to be part of the community. And it comes with a generous allowance.

More generous than for special constables, they do it for nowt!

RNLI lifeboatmen are always on call and are volunteers so don't get paid.

Or here's a thought, maybe they could properly fund ALL emergency services. Radical I know

I live in a large rural county We only have 2 fire stations employing full time firefighters - the rest (and there are quite a lot) are staffed by retained firefighters only. It seems to work around here and most (if not all) have other full time jobs. Many of them work shifts so are often available during the day as well as opting for night cover. In our village some of the firefighters work in businesses in the village and their employers allow them to be on call during their working day.It is an excellent way of supplementing your income from your main low paid job, whilst at the same time ensuring that there is adequate emergency cover to all areas.

I have also known full time firefighters who have 2nd jobs/trades which they choose to do around their fire fighting job. We used a chap who did tiling in his spare time and his availability depended on whether he had been able to sleep on duty most of the night or if he had been called out.

It brings in an extra six thousand a year roughly for us and just is a job