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Issue XXV April 2004

Deadline Has Passed to File Reports  

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The deadline for filing your annual reports of service and compensation, February 29, 2004, has come and gone.  If you still have not filed your reports, you will be hearing from us.  We are developing a delinquent list to send out subpoenas in the very near future.  It is imperative that we receive this information for the benefit of your employees as well as the Railroad Retirement trust funds.

Your employees need this data reported on their records so that they can verify that their employment was correctly reported and they can track their status for eligibility for benefits from this agency.

Employee Address Request

Employers are required to file with the Railroad Retirement Board an address report for all new hires.  In addition to this report which is due by April 1 each year, the RRB ran the address request project early this year in order to reduce the number of undeliverable Forms BA-6, Certificate of Service and Compensation.  In order to accomplish this, the address information must be received and processed no later than May 12, 2004.  If you received a listing, please fill in the missing address and return it to the Board as soon as possible.

You can also file your missing addresses on the Internet through our secure site called the Employer Reporting System (ERS) if you have access.  To learn more about the ERS or apply for access, go to PL04-02.  If you have questions contact QRSC at the telephone number or e-mail address listed above.

Verifying Social Security Numbers

The RRB is responsible for maintaining accurate service and compensation records for every employee who has worked in the railroad industry.  The identifier we use to record the employee data is the social security number (SSN) reported to us by the employer.  We must verify the accuracy of the SSN through the Social Security Administration (SSA). If the identifying information reported to the RRB on the employee’s SSN matches correctly with the information at the SSA, the SSN is automatically verified on the RRB database and posted to the employee’s account.  If the information does not match correctly, the account remains unverified and the reported service and compensation may be posted to an incorrect account number.

We are in the process of investigating with SSA all accounts that remain unverified.  If you receive a GL-24 letter stating that the service and compensation reported for an employee cannot be validated because SSA indicates the SSN reported by your organization belongs to another individual or it is not in the SSA database, please review your records, complete the bottom half of the form with your findings, and return to the address on the letter.  We understand that some of these accounts are former employees and

you may not have any current information.   In that case, please indicate this on the form and return it to us.  If you have any questions, contact a Compensation Specialist at (312) 751-4992.

Automated Reporting

The RRB intends to convert all employers who file paper reports into automated filers.  This can reduce the number of manual errors which result from processing paper reports. In addition to the RRB Internet site for Employer Reporting that we reported on in the last quarterly issue of this newsletter, we also have a PC Reporting program available on CD-ROM.  computer mediaThis software has been available for several years, but we continue to receive more than half of the annual reports on paper.  If you filed your 2003 BA-3a Annual Report on paper, let us know the problems that are preventing you from switching to an automated format.

The CD-ROM program will allow you to complete all of your annual reports: Form BA-3a, Form BA-6a, Address Report and Form BA-11, Report of Gross Earnings.  All you have to do is key in the data, click a button, download the information onto a floppy disk, and mail the disk and the G-440, Report Specification Sheet to the RRB.  The program is compatible with Windows 2000 and Windows Office XP operating systems.

So, if you filed your 2003 annual reports on paper, look for your copy of the CD-ROM PC Reporting program in the mail.  If you previously used the program and want an updated version contact the Quality Reporting Service Center.

We are also reaching out to organizations that currently use spreadsheets (i.e. Excel, QuattroPro, Lotus) to record payroll information.  We can help you to covert your spreadsheet report into the required format so that your report can be processed by our mainframe computers.  If you can copy this data to a 3.5" floppy diskette or CD-ROM, you can become an automated filer.  If you are interested, contact QRSC at the telephone number or through our e-mail account listed on the front in the header.  We will send you the instructions and a QRSC Specialist can walk you through the process.

Benefit Year 2004 Starts July 1st

calendarA new RUIA benefit year is upon us yet again.  Benefit year 2004 starts on July 1, 2004 and ends June 30, 2005 for most unemployment and sickness insurance benefit claimants.  To be qualified for RRB UI and/or SI benefits, an employee must have $2,800 in creditable railroad earnings in calendar year 2003, counting no more than $1,120.00 per month.  If 2003 was an employee’s first year of railroad work, he or she must also have railroad service in at least 5 months of 2003.  The maximum daily benefit rate for UI and SI benefits increases to $56.00 for registration periods beginning after June 30, 2004.

Quality Reporting Service Center
U.S. Railroad Retirement Board
844    North Rush Street
Chicago, IL 60611-2092

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