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Chapter 3:
Filing Instructions for Service and Compensation Annual
Reports
Background |
Each employer is required by law to submit an
annual report of the creditable service and
compensation for each employee who performed
compensated service in the preceding year. See
Section 9 of the Railroad Retirement Act, Section
6 of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act,
and Section 209.8 of the Railroad Retirement
Board's (RRB) Regulations (20
CFR 209.8). Each year employers are reminded
of this requirement.
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| Time limits |
Annual
reports for a calendar year, with an accompanying
Form G-440, are due at the RRB by the last day
of February the following year. Because the receipt
of annual reports is monitored by an automated
control system, employers will receive a delinquent
notice, Form GL-131, generated by this system,
approximately two weeks after the due date. If
the report is not received at the RRB within 30
days of the delinquent notice, employers will
be sent a final notice, Form GL-130, usually by
Certified Mail.
Under the
Railroad Retirement Act, failure to comply within
30 days of this final notice will ultimately
result in a referral to our Deputy General Counsel
for the issuance of a subpoena to secure the
information. Under Section 209.2(d) of the RRB's
Regulations (20
CFR 209.2(d), the RRB may impose fines for
continued failure to comply with the regulations.
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| Zero reports |
In
accordance with Section 209.8 of the RRB's Regulations
(20
CFR 209.8), employers who do not have creditable
service and compensation to report for the previous
calendar year are to advise the RRB of this
fact in writing. This may be done by filing
Form G-440,
Report Specification Sheet, and checking the
appropriate item.
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| Filing requirement
for 250 or more employees |
The
RRB requires employers that report for 250 or
more employees to report on magnetic media.
We encourage all employers to file on magnetic
media. The following are acceptable forms of
magnetic media: magnetic tape, cartridge CD-ROM,
or 3.5 floppy diskettes. See the Appendices
for instructions on how to properly format
the data.
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| Form BA-3D
(Magnetic Media Fillers) |
Do
not add Tier I sick pay to the amounts on the
annual report of service and compensation (BA-3a) because sick
pay is reported separately. However, if you
wish to report sick pay concurrently with your
annual report, follow the format instructions
for Form BA-3d in the Appendices.
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| Final Reports |
If a
covered railroad employer goes out of business
or ceases to be a covered employer for any reason,
a final report of creditable service and compensation
must be submitted. Section 209.10 of the RRB's
Regulations (20
CFR 209.10) states that the final report must
be submitted on or before the last day of the
month following the final month in which there
was compensated service. The report should be
completed as usual and marked "Final Compensation
Report" in the remarks section at the bottom
of the G-440,
Report Specifications Sheet.
When the
Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) receives a "Final
Compensation Report", we will conduct an
investigation to determine if the employers'
coverage status should be terminated.
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| Daily pay rate |
Employers'
annual reports should include an employee's last
daily pay rate. The daily pay rate is used in
determining the employee's benefit rate under
the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA).
Failure to report a daily pay rate may result
in an employee receiving the minimum RUIA benefit
rate until such time as the actual daily pay rate
is verified.
An employee's daily pay rate is the basic rate
of pay for the last regular job worked for the
compensation year. If the employee's daily pay
rate is equal to or greater than $99.99, report
$99.99. The pay rate includes cost of living
increases but does not include overtime, arbitrary
payments, or special allowances.
Pay, other than on a daily basis, may be converted
as follows:
- monthly rate divided
by 21.75; or
- (annual rate divided
by months employed) divided
by 21.75; or
- for mileage rated employees,
the rate of pay for the number of miles constituting
a basic day as prescribed by the agreement.
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