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Only qualified
employees can receive benefits under the Railroad Unemployment
Insurance Act. A new benefit
year begins every July 1. To qualify for benefits
in a benefit year, you must have creditable railroad earnings
in the preceding calendar year (base year),
counting no more than a certain amount in any month. In
addition, a new employee must have railroad service in at
least 5 months of his or her first year of work in order
to be eligible for benefits in the following benefit year.
The amount of earnings needed to qualify
for benefits in a benefit year depends on the monthly compensation
base in the base year. An employee is required to have base
year earnings of not less than 2- 1/2 times the monthly
compensation base applicable to months in that base year.
As the monthly compensation base increases, the amount of
compensation needed to qualify for benefits also increases.
Example:
Benefit Year Beginning
— July 1, 2002
Earnings Needed
in Base Year — $2,625.00 in 2001 (2
1/2 x $1,050.00 = $2,625.00). If 2001 was your first
year of railroad work, you must also have railroad service
in 5 months in 2001.
In this example, $1,050.00 is the monthly
compensation base for base year 2001. The monthly compensation
base for base year 2002 is $1,100.00. Contact your
local RRB field office if you need information about the
monthly compensation base for other years.
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