Chapter 11:
Employer Verification of Unemployment and Sickness
Benefits
Background |
Effective January 1, 1990, the Railroad Unemployment
Insurance Act (RUIA) requires that "when
a claim for benefits is filed with the Railroad
Retirement Board (RRB), the RRB shall provide
notice of such claim to the claimant's base
year employer or employers and afford such employer
or employers an opportunity to submit information
relevant to the claim before making an initial
determination on the claim." This is commonly
referred to as the prepayment verification process.
|
Purpose |
The
purpose of the prepayment verification process
is to give employers the opportunity to provide
information to assist the RRB in determining
if sickness or unemployment benefits are payable.
This information is important because the payment,
or non-payment, of a claim will affect an employer's
experience rating and may affect an employer's
contribution rate.
|
Prepayment
notices |
The
RRB releases Form ID-4K, Prepayment Notice of
Employees' Applications and Claims for Benefits
Under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act
and Form ID-4E, Notice of RUIA Claim Determinations
to employers to verify the reasons for unemployment
and sickness benefit claims.
ID-4K - Upon receipt, the
employer has three business days to submit information
relevant to the claim before the RRB determines
whether benefits are payable to the employee.
ID-4E
- Upon receipt, the base year employer(s) may
request a reconsideration of the determination
to pay benefits, if the employer believes the
payment is incorrect or the employee did not
work for their company in the base year. The
reconsideration request must be in writing and
it must be received at an office of the RRB
within 60 days of the date of the ID-4E notice.
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What information
employers should report |
Upon
receipt of a prepayment notice for an application
or claim, employers should compare the information
with their records of employment status and/or
payroll and provide information in the following
circumstances.
All requests:
- The employee is claiming
benefits for a day(s) for which he or she
performed compensated service or received
remuneration which would prevent the payment
of benefits (see below).
Unemployment requests:
- The employee reported an
incorrect date last worked;
- The employee is unemployed
for a reason other than that reported;
- The employee is claiming
benefits for a day(s) on which he or she was
voluntarily absent from work; or
- The employee is claiming
unemployment benefits for a day(s) for which
he or she was sick and unable to work.
Sickness requests:
- The employee is claiming sickness benefits
for a day(s) for which he or she was physically
able to work.
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Employer payments
which prevent payment of RRB benefits |
Receipt
of the following payments will prevent the employee
from also receiving unemployment or sickness benefits
from the RRB for the same day(s).
- Regular earnings.
Includes work, holiday pay, pay for personal
day, called but not used, deadhead pay, vacation
period (vacation taken), sick pay (if carried
on the payroll for days of sickness as though
worked), compensatory time, pay while in training.
- Guarantee pay,
which is attributable to specific days.
Report only if attributable to specific days.
For example, if the guarantee is for 750 miles
every week, then pay for 150 miles is attributable
to five workdays in the week, but if the guarantee
is for $50,000 annually, the guarantee pay
cannot be attributed to specific days.
- Allowances paid
for jobs lost. This includes
separation allowances, dismissal allowances,
displacement allowances, coordination allowances.
|
Special alerts |
- Be sure to report earnings
for the day earned, regardless of when the
amount is actually paid.
- Unemployment benefits may
be paid until an employee receives protective
pay. The benefits are then subject to recovery
from the employer under Section 2(f) of the
RUIA.
- Be sure that earnings for
a working day, which includes a part of two
consecutive calendar days, are considered
to have been earned on the day on which the
working day begins and attribute to that day.
|
Employer payments
which do not prevent payment of benefits |
Receipt
of the following payments does not affect an employee's
entitlement to unemployment or sickness benefits.
Do not report these payments.
- Payments Not
Attributable to Specific Days.
This includes bonus pay, vacation paid in
lieu of a vacation period, some lump sum payments
and guarantee pay.
- Supplemental
Sick or Unemployment Pay (paid
under a non-governmental plan approved by
the Board).
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How and when
to respond |
Upon
receipt of a prepayment notice, the employer
should review the information and determine
if a reply is needed. A list of day codes on
the RRB claim profile can be found later in
this chapter. Replies should be made within
three business days. If you are not
using the automated reply system, you may telephone
the RRB office designated on the form, or send
a written reply. We recommend that you telephone
if you have information that may cause the RRB
to deny benefits.
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If you are
unable to respond within 3 days |
If
you are unable to respond within the three-day
limit, respond as quickly as possible. If your
response causes the RRB to determine that benefits
should not have been paid, the RRB will attempt
to recover the benefits from the employee. The
employer that was charged for any benefits that
were subsequently not payable will receive a
credit when the benefits are recovered.
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When NOT to
respond |
No
reply is necessary if the information provided
by the employee is correct and you have no other
information to provide.
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Automated prepayment
verification notices |
Employers
have the option of receiving and replying to
notices of claims through an electronic data
interchange (EDI). All electronic communication
for this purpose are through the RAILINC Corporation,
a subsidiary of, and developed by, the Association
of American Railroads. Exchanging information
with the RRB is just one of the possible uses
of the system. RAILINC provides a mainframe
system to receive and respond to RRB claim messages.
If you would like to participate in this program,
please contact the First Star Bank of St Louis
at (314) 418-1073.
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Paper prepayment
verification notices |
In
the absence of prior arrangements to receive
and respond to claim messages electronically,
printed Forms ID-4K are mailed to an official
designated by the railroad.
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Who gets prepayment
notices and who gets charged for the benefits |
A
request for verification of unemployment benefit
claims is sent to the claimant's last employer,
because that employer can verify the reason
for unemployment and report any remuneration
that may be paid. A request for verification
of sickness benefits is sent to the base year
employer because that is the employer that will
be charged for the benefits.
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Who is the
base year employer? |
The
base year is the calendar year preceding the benefit
year. A benefit year begins every July 1. Most
often the last employer and the base year employer
are the same.
Example:
An employee works for Employer A the entire
year 2000 and through March 2001. In April 2001,
the employee starts to work for Employer B and
works through September at which time he becomes
ill. The employee files for sickness benefits
beginning September 18, 2001, which is in benefit
year 2001, which began July 1, 2001. The base
year for benefit year 2001 is calendar year
2000. The prepayment notice is sent to Employer
A who was the base year employer. Had the employee
been laid off instead of sick, the notice would
have been sent to the last employer, Employer
B.
|
Unemployment claim - day codes |
0 |
Day
not claimed |
1 |
Claimed
day of unemployment/available for work |
2 |
Employed,
day not claimed |
3 |
Claimed
day of unemployment, denied for miscellaneous
reasons |
4 |
Claimed
day of unemployment, denied because of work
restrictions and/or earnings test. |
5 |
Claimed
day of unemployment, denied due to late
registration |
6 |
Claimed
day of unemployment, denied for miscellaneous
reasons |
7 |
Claimed
day of unemployment, benefits reduced because
of receipt social insurance |
8 |
Claimed
day of unemployment, denied because of unavailability
for work |
9 |
Claimed
day of unemployment, denied because of receipt
of remuneration |
|
Sickness claim - day codes |
0 |
Day
not claimed |
1 |
Claimed
day of Sickness |
2 |
Employed,
day not claimed |
3 |
Claimed
day of sickness, denied for miscellaneous
reasons |
4 |
Claimed
day of sickness, denied due to improper
advance registration |
5 |
Claimed
day of sickness, denied due to improper
delayed registration |
6 |
Claimed
day of sickness, denied for miscellaneous
reasons |
7 |
Claimed
day of sickness, benefits reduced because
of receipt social insurance |
8 |
Claimed
day of sickness, denied due to ability
to work |
9 |
Claimed
day of sickness, denied because of receipt
of remuneration |
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