To receive access to the RRB Employer Reporting System (ERS) web site, an employee of a covered employer must complete Form BA-12, Application for Employer Reporting System.  The BA-12 application form is available in the Exhibits to these instructions and on the Internet. 

Form BA-12 cannot be completed or filed on the web site.  To deter fraudulent use of the site, the application must include written signatures and be transmitted using the US Mail.  The applicant must certify in writing that he or she will follow the RRB’s security guidelines.  The guidelines are contained in Chapter 8 of this part. 

Access is to specific forms

When the RRB was developing requirements for the Internet system, some employers required that the work of a department remain private within that department.  As a result, we developed a “roles-based access” which provides access on an individual form basis.  An employee’s access is expected to be specific to their role, or work, at their company.  If a form is used only by one department, access can be limited to employees in that department. 

Two-step update and approval process

Again, when developing requirements, some employers required that a manager review and certify service and compensation reports completed by their staff.  Others indicated that the person authorized to complete the report was also authorized to certify and file the report without additional review.  No employer required a review of forms other than BA-3a, BA-4, and BA-10 as these are the only forms which change the RRB record of an employee’s service and compensation. 

The RRB access system was designed to account for all of these differences.  A separate update function was developed for Form BA-4.  If you wish to use a second person as a reviewer, assign update access to the staff who prepare the BA-4’s and assign approve access to the staff who review and certify BA-4’s to the RRB.  If you do not wish to use a second person as a reviewer, do not assign update access.  Rather assign approve access to the staff who prepare and certify the BA-4’s.

Update access

This access is used only with forms that change the RRB’s record of service and compensation, as explained above.  Update access allows a person to complete or update a Form BA-4, but not to submit the form to the RRB.  The form is updated to the system where it will await approval.  The form appears in the “outstanding items” list with a status of “awaiting approval.”  Only a person with approve access can submit or certify the form to the RRB.  While the form is pending approval, it can be modified by the original updater.  Once the form has been approved, it is no longer available on the system and no further changes are possible. 

Approve access

Only a person with approve access can certify and submit forms to the RRB.  For most forms, the person with approve access will also be the person who completes the form.  In the case of a BA-4, the person with approve access may be approving a form completed by an updater, as explained above, or may prepare and certify their own BA-4’s.  A person with approve access can delete a form created by an updater.  A person with approve access can also modify a form created by an updater; however, the form must be updated again before it is approved.  This is a security measure so that all the updates can be recorded for the appropriate person.

Read-only access

This access is to any summary reports in connection with the form as well as to the outstanding items list in connection with the form.  Although the outstanding items list is displayed, it is in grey and no items on the list can be accessed.  Read access to Form BA-4 also provides access to the BA-4 summary report.  This access is envisioned for auditors or reviewers who will not be completing RRB forms but may need information about the work.

 

Problem	Who to Contact	At:
Password Problem	Password Administrator	312-751-3307
System Problem	System Administrator	312-751-4833
General Help & To Trace Form BA-12	Quality Reporting Service Center	312-751-4992

Employers may also send an e-mail with their questions or problems to webcomments@rrb.gov.  General inquiries may be routed to qrsc@rrb.gov.

Within five days of receipt of an acceptable application, the RRB will mail your user ID and password.  To access the site, type the url https://secure.rrb.gov/employer.  This brings up a logon screen.  Enter your user ID and password.  The first time you log on, you will be prompted to change your password. 

This site will respond correctly only for users who access the site using at least Internet Explorer 4.0, Netscape 6.0, or compatible browsers.

To prevent unauthorized users from attempting to guess your password, the RRB has adopted standards for setting passwords.  Passwords must include at least one each of:

• number,

• alpha character- lower case, and

• alpha character- upper case.

Passwords must be at least 8 characters and up to 16 characters in length.  The employer site does not use a password hint system.

If you forget your password, telephone the RRB password administrator at (312)751-3307 and provide the requested information.  For security purposes, you will not be provided a new password at the time of your initial call.  The password administrator will telephone the number on record or will mail or e-mail the new password to the address on record. 

No one at the RRB can see your password so we cannot help you remember your password.  All passwords are encrypted.  No one at the RRB can access the encryption program to break the codes.  The encryption program was developed by an outside contractor who secures and retains the program code.

Everyone has the same bar menu across the top of the screen which contains two items, Logout and E-mail.  The E-mail option allows you to easily send e-mail to this site to the Webcomments mailbox.

With the exception of ‘Edit My Account,’ the main menu down the left side of the screen contains items specific to your access.  If you have only view access, your menu will consist only of the ‘Outstanding Items” and any reports related to forms to which you have access.  If you have update or approve access, your menu will consist of all the forms to which you have access.  There is also a utility option which is used to upload files to RRB.

To select a menu item, click on it. 

Characters:  Except for your password, no alpha character that you enter is case sensitive.  You can type in all upper case, all lower case, or a combination of both. 

Money fields:  All compensation fields must include a decimal and two cents positions.  No commas or dollar signs are permitted.

SSN:  The social security number is entered without dashes.

Pre-filled fields:  Some pre-filled information can be changed by typing over the data.  You cannot, however, correct a name or SSN on a request form by typing over the name or SSN with corrected information.  If a correction is needed, telephone or e-mail QRSC.

If your name, phone, or e-mail address change, you can update those items by going to the Modify My Account screen.  This is also the screen where you change your password.  This screen will show your last successful login, your last failed login, and the number of failed login attempts.  If this information appears to be incorrect, please telephone QRSC immediately.  Your access may have been compromised.

With respect to those forms for which you have access, all the outstanding items for your employer are listed under Outstanding Items.  At the top of the list are items that you have access to update and/or approve.  Think of this as a ‘work list.’  Following these items are forms to which you have access but not at the required level to work.  These items are in grey and the SSN link is not active.  The status of each item is indicated with an icon.  To interpret the icon, place your mouse over the icon.  A message will appear explaining the status.  If you have update access or approve access, you can view or work the item by clicking the SSN, which is a link to the detail record.

To log out, click the logout menu item.  Wait for the message that you have been logged out and then close your browser.  For security purposes and to delete any session cookies, it is necessary to close your browser.