Benefit year 2001 commenced on July 1, 2001 and ends on June 30, 2002. To be qualified for RRB unemployment or sickness benefits in this benefit year, an employee must have $2512.50 in creditable railroad earnings in calendar year 2000, counting no more than $1005.00 per month. If 2000 was an employee's first year of railroad work, he or she must also have railroad service in at least five (5) months of 2000. The maximum daily benefit rate for UI and SI benefits increases to $50.00 for registration periods beginning after June 30, 2001. For more information on the new benefit year, please refer to Program Letter 01-03 released on June 21, 2001.

The RRB is developing an updated version of the RRB P/C Reporting program on CD-ROM that will be compatible with Windows 2000 operating systems. The program will be released again as a runtime version of the database software, so you will not have to buy the software to run the program. If you filed your 2000 BA-3a annual report on paper, let us know the problems that are preventing you from switching to the new format. We will try to work with you to address them. We encourage everyone to use the program to complete the service and compensation reports. 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 us so we can timely and accurately process the information. We are reminding everyone to please download the report to a floppy disk instead of printing it and sending us a paper copy which has to be keypunched into our system. This program makes completing and posting the annual reports of service and compensation virtually error-free! Look for your copy in the mail this fall.

The Quality Reporting Service Center of the RRB will be conducting a seminar for railroad officials who 
are responsible for exchanging information with the RRB. The seminar is being presented September 27, 2001 in Portland, Oregon. A series of instructional sessions will provide information and guidance on reporting creditable railroad service and compensation and related issues. The last day to register is Monday, September 10, 2001. The seminar will be from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Courtyard by Marriott Airport. The address of the hotel is 11550 NE Airport Way, Portland, OR 97220 and their phone number is (503) 252-3200. 

If your organization has experienced changes in ownership or operations that may affect its coverage status (for example, a merger or corporate dissolution), notify us immediately. RRB's regulation (20 CFR 209.5) states it is the duty of each employer to promptly notify the RRB in the event of changes that may affect its coverage status. Coverage changes should be addressed to the Chief of Audit and Compliance or you may call (312) 751-7120.

If you call the RRB for advice on creditable compensation, the term you use may effect the answer you receive. As an employer, you may use the same term as the RRB but it will mean something different. For example, the RRB uses the term "back pay" to mean retroactive wage increase while some employers use the term "back pay" to refer to pay for time lost. Pay for time lost is a type of creditable compensation attributable to wages lost for an identifiable period of absence from active service. The name the employer gives to the payment does not govern the rules under which the payment is creditable. As a result, the RRB may ask numerous questions about the payment to determine the applicable rules.