Financial Incentives
Financial Incentives are lump sum payments in exchange for committing to a period of reckonable service, to encourage personnel to join and remain in Service within specific trades that have recruitment or retention difficulties.
Am I eligible?
Each Financial Incentive has a unique set of eligibility criteria and a closing date. Should the trade meet the numbers required before the closing date the scheme will be closed early and there will be no more payments from that date.
What's it for?
Financial Incentives are payments made to Service personnel to support trades in meeting their required numbers for operational output. They are used as an aid to support other non-financial measures.
The different types of incentives are as follows:
Golden Hellos assist with encouraging new entrants into the Armed Forces.
Re-joiner Bounties assist with encouraging previous serving personnel to rejoin the Armed Forces.
Transfer Bounties assist with encouraging current serving personnel to transfer to a different trade within the Armed Forces.
Recruit Bounty Schemes are designed to encourage current serving personnel to assist in recruiting non-Service Personnel into the Armed Forces.
Financial Retention Incentives assist with encouraging current serving personnel to remain in Service within their current trade.
What do I get?
The rates of payment vary depending on the scheme and each are considered on a case by case basis.
They are not pensionable, i.e. do not contribute to the amount of pension you accrue, however they are subject to Tax and National Insurance.
How do I claim?
Your career manager will have details of current schemes, which you can also find here. If you meet the eligibility criteria and wish to make an application for payment then you should complete the form at Annex A of the relevant scheme
Page last updated: 22 January 2024
Need more information?
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Financial Incentives
Find out more about the current schemes
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JSP 754 Recruitment and Retention payments
read JSP 754 chapter 5 to find out more about recruitment and retention payments
Defence Gateway
JSP 754 Financial incentives (Def Gateway)
Read JSP 754 to find out more about financial incentives