Joining the Army Reserve alongside a civilian job

The Army Reserve is the part-time element of the British Army: you train in your spare time, keep your civilian job, and can be called up for full-time service when needed. Training usually means a weekly evening at your unit, several weekends a year and an annual training course or camp. You are paid for the days you train at a daily rate linked to regular Army pay, and the law protects your civilian job if you are mobilised, though not when you ask for time off to train.

The commitment

According to GOV.UK, reserve training is usually made up of an evening a week, several weekends spread through the year and a longer training course each year, often called annual camp. Each unit has a minimum number of training days, and you need to meet it to qualify for the annual bounty. Some specialist units, such as those recruiting doctors, lawyers or IT professionals, ask for less regular attendance.

New recruits first complete basic training. For reservists this is split into weekend modules and a residential block, so it can fit around a job, though you will need some leave or unpaid time for the residential part. After that comes training for your role, which depends on the unit: infantry, engineers, medics, logistics, signals, intelligence and more. Joining the British Army as a soldier covers the regular Army if you are deciding between the two.

The selection process, eligibility rules on age, nationality and health, and the fitness test are set out in the Army’s guidance, summarised in the “Joining the Army Reserve” publication on GOV.UK.

How reservist pay works

Reservists are paid for each day of training or duty at a daily rate based on regular pay for the same rank. When regular pay rises, reserve rates rise with it. For 2026/27 the Armed Forces Pay Review Body award was 3.6%, backdated to 1 April 2026, according to secondary reporting; new-entrant regular soldiers start on £27,282 a year and junior officers on £35,926. A reservist’s earnings are a fraction of that, depending on how many days you do. Armed forces pay covers the regular rates.

On top of daily pay, reservists who meet their unit’s training commitment and pass the required tests receive an annual bounty, a tax-free lump sum that increases with years of service. Travel to training is usually paid or reimbursed within set rules.

Reserve pay is taxable. If you have a civilian job, your reserve pay is a second income, and it is often taxed using a BR code with your Personal Allowance given to your main job. Tax when you have two jobs explains how that works and how to ask HMRC to split the allowance if your main job pays less than it.

Paid reserve service counts towards the Armed Forces Pension Scheme. This sits alongside any civilian pension, such as the NHS, teachers’, LGPS or Civil Service scheme, which carries on as normal.

What your employer must and need not do

The rules are on GOV.UK’s page for reservists and employers, and they split into training and mobilisation.

For training, your employer has no legal duty to give you time off, paid or unpaid. Many employers give some leave voluntarily, and many public sector employers, including councils, NHS trusts and Civil Service departments, have reservist policies offering a set amount of special leave each year. Others expect you to use annual leave. Reservists cannot be made redundant because of their training or mobilisation, and must be treated like other staff in any genuine redundancy.

For mobilisation, the protections are much stronger. Under the Reserve Forces (Safeguard of Employment) Act 1985:

• your employer can be fined and ordered to pay compensation if it ends your employment because you are mobilised
• you have the right to return to the same type of job, on the same terms, or a reasonable alternative if it no longer exists
• your employer must keep you on for a minimum period after you return, which depends on how long you worked there before you were mobilised

While you are mobilised, the MOD pays you, and you can claim financial assistance to cover the difference if your civilian pay was higher. Your employer stops paying your salary and can claim help with the cost of a replacement. Employers can also apply to delay or cancel a call-out if it would seriously harm the business, and must apply quickly after the notice arrives.

If an employer refuses to re-employ you after service, you can apply to a tribunal. ACAS or a union can advise on disputes about leave policies or treatment.

Making it work with a public sector job

Shift workers often find reserve training easier to fit around rotas than nine-to-five staff do, but rota managers need notice of weekends and camp. Teachers usually have to fit annual camp into the school holidays. Before you sign up, read your employer’s reservist or special leave policy, talk to your manager about what notice they need, and check how leave for camp affects your annual leave.

Reservists are also popular with some public employers because of the leadership, first aid and planning skills they bring. Leaving the reserves later does not stop you using that experience; public sector jobs for armed forces veterans covers schemes that can apply to former reservists in some cases.