Letter No. 98-02    
For Release:           
December 12, 1997

CONTACT:  Quality Reporting Service Center

PHONE:       (312) 751-4992

TO:               Certification Contact Officials Who File Paper Reports

SUBJECT:   Electronic Filing of Service and Compensation Reports

Many railroad employers use personal computers in some form of their operations every day, but those same employers are reluctant to move from paper to electronic reporting. In 1996, employers filed 78% of the 743 Form BA-3a, Annual Reports of Service and Compensation, on paper. To reduce the number of errors resulting from the paper reports, the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is reminding employers that electronic filing is the more effective and efficient way to submit error-free reports.

Employers can submit reports via magnetic tape, cartridge or 3.5 floppy diskettes (which can be retrieved from a desktop computer). Employers that print paper reports using a personal computer can instead, reformat the report to properly align the data into the correct tape positions as explained in the Appendices of the "Reporting Instructions to Employers"; save the report in ASCII DOS Text; and copy it from the hard drive to a diskette. We have found that many software packages allow for the conversion to the ASCII format. We would appreciate your cooperation in assessing your current operations to determine if your organization can convert to filing reports on magnetic media.

Filing service and compensation reports electronically will reduce the number of errors and result in a cost savings to your organization and the RRB. If you have any questions or need additional information about the process of filing electronic reports, contact the Quality Reporting Service Center at the number listed above or through our Web site at www.rrb.gov.

Go to Top of Letter     Go to Letters Page