Many
railroad employees have at some time served
in the Armed Forces of the United States.
Under certain conditions, their military
service may be credited as rail service
under the
Railroad Retirement Act.
The following questions and answers provide
information on how military service may
be credited towards railroad retirement
benefits.
1. Under what
conditions can military service be credited
as railroad service?
The intent behind the crediting of military
service under the Railroad Retirement
Act is to prevent career railroad employees
from losing retirement credits while performing
active duty military service during a
war or national emergency period. Therefore,
to be creditable as railroad service under
the Railroad Retirement Act, active duty
service in the U.S. Armed Forces must
be preceded by railroad service in the
same or preceding calendar year. With
the exceptions noted later, the employee
must also have entered military service
when the United States was at war or in
a state of national emergency or have
served in the Armed Forces involuntarily.
Military service is involuntary when an
employee is required by law, such as Selective
Service System conscription, or troop
call-up from a reserve unit, to leave
railroad service to perform active duty
military service.
Only active duty military service is
creditable under the Railroad Retirement
Act. A person is considered to have been
on active duty while commissioned or enrolled
in the active service of the Armed Forces
of the United States (including the U.S.
Coast Guard); or while ordered to Federal
active duty from any reserve component
of the uniformed Armed Forces.
2. What would
be some examples of creditable service
performed by a member of a reserve component,
such as the Army Reserve?
Any military service a reservist was
required to perform as a result of a call-up
to active duty, such as during the current
partial mobilization, would be creditable
under the Railroad Retirement Act, so
long as the military service was preceded
by railroad service in the same or preceding
year.
Annual training duty as a member of a
reserve component of a uniformed service
is also considered active duty and may
be creditable, provided the employee service
requirement is met. The period of active
duty for training also includes authorized
travel time to and from any such training
duty. However, weekend alone or evening
reserve duty is not creditable.
Active duty in a State National Guard
or State Air National Guard unit may be
creditable only while the reservist was
called to Federal active duty by the Congress
or President of the United States. Emergency
call-up of the National Guard by a governor
for riot or flood control would not be
creditable.
3. What are
the dates of the war or national emergency
periods?
The creditable periods that affect current
retirements are:
- September 8, 1939, through June 14,
1948.
- December 16, 1950, through September
14, 1978.
- August 2, 1990, to date as yet undetermined.
If military service began during a war
or national emergency period, any active
duty service the employee was required
to continue in beyond the end of the war
or national emergency is creditable, except
that voluntary service extending beyond
September 14, 1978, is not creditable.
Railroad workers who voluntarily served
in the Armed Forces between June 15, 1948,
and December 15, 1950, when there was
no declared national state of emergency,
can be given railroad retirement credit
for their military service if they:
- performed railroad service in the
year they entered or the year before
they entered military service, and;
- returned to rail service in the year
their military service ended or in the
following year, and;
- had no intervening nonrailroad employment.
4. How can
military service be used to increase benefits
paid by the Railroad Retirement Board?
Railroad
retirement annuities are based on length
of service and earnings. If military service
is creditable as railroad service, a person
will receive additional earnings credits
for each month of creditable military
service and railroad service credit for
each active military service month not
already credited by actual railroad service.
Creditable military service may be used
in addition to regular railroad service
to meet certain service requirements,
such as the basic 10-year or 5-year service
requirements for a regular annuity, the
20-year requirement for an occupational
disability annuity before age 60, the
25-year requirement for a supplemental
annuity, or the 30-year requirement for
early retirement benefits.
5. Can United
States Merchant Marine service be creditable
for railroad retirement purposes?
No. Service with the Merchant Marine
or civilian employment with the Department
of Defense is not creditable, even if
performed in wartime.
6. Are railroad
retirement annuities based in part on
military service credits reduced if other
benefits, such as military service pensions
or payments from the Department of Veterans
Affairs, are also payable on the basis
of the same military service?
No. While railroad retirement employee
annuities are subject to reductions for
dual entitlement to social security benefits
and, under certain conditions, Federal,
State, or local government pensions, as
well as certain other payments, railroad
retirement employee annuities are always
exempt from reduction for military service
pensions or payments by the Department
of Veterans Affairs.
7. Are the
unemployment and sickness benefits payable
by the Railroad Retirement Board affected
if an employee is also receiving a military
service pension?
Yes. The
unemployment and sickness benefits payable
by the Board are affected if a claimant
is also receiving a military service pension.
However, payments made by the Department
of Veterans Affairs will not affect railroad
unemployment or sickness benefits.
When a claimant is receiving a military
service pension or benefits under any
social insurance law for days in which
he or she is entitled to benefits under
the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act,
railroad unemployment or sickness benefits
are payable only to the extent to which
they exceed the other payments for those
days. In many cases, the amount of a military
service pension precludes the payment
of unemployment or sickness benefits by
the Board. Examples of other such social
insurance payments are civil service pensions,
firefighters' and police pensions, and
workers' compensation payments. Claimants
should report all such payments promptly
to avoid having to refund benefits later.
8. Can proof
of military service be filed in advance
of retirement?
Railroad employees are encouraged to
file proofs of their military service
well in advance of retirement. The information
will be recorded and stored electronically
until they actually retire. This will
expedite the annuity application process
and avoid any delays resulting from inadequate
proofs.
If employees do not have an official record
of their military service, their local
Railroad Retirement Board office will
explain how to get acceptable evidence.
All evidence brought or mailed to a Board
office will be handled carefully and returned
promptly.
9. How can
an employee get more information about
the crediting of military service by the
Railroad Retirement Board?
For more
information, an employee should contact
the nearest
office of the Railroad Retirement
Board. Most Board offices are open to
the public from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except on Federal
holidays.
Employees can find the address and phone
number of the Board office serving their
area by calling the automated toll-free
RRB Help
Line at 1-800-808-0772. They can also
get this information from the Board's
Web site at www.rrb.gov.
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