Copies of this program letter should be provided to all claims department, labor relations and payroll department personnel involved in the processing and payment of claims for pay for time lost, guarantee pay and personal injury settlements. Printable versions of these program letters are available at RRB.gov.

This program letter supplements program letters 2004-06 and 2003-05 and provides information about the use of e-mail for requesting information concerning amounts due under sections 2(f) and 12(o) of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA). This information is collected under OMB collection number 3220-0036.

General

Railroad employers are required under certain circumstances to reimburse the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) for unemployment and sickness insurance benefits paid to their employees. Such reimbursements are required under sections 2(f) and 12(o) of the RUIA.

Employer Requests for Information About Amounts Due Under Section 2(f) and 12(o)

Railroad employers should contact the RRB's Sickness and Unemployment Benefits Section (SUBS) prior to payment of either pay for time lost in the form of wages or guarantee pay, or the payment of a personal injury settlement. SUBS will provide information about the amount of benefits to be deducted from the award for reimbursement under section 2(f) or settlement under section 12(o).


Secure Email Exchange Using Digital IDs

The RRB now offers an email equivalent of facsimile forms ID-3S and ID-3U. Because our email messages contain sensitive personal information such as Social Security Account numbers, we must exchange information securely to insure that no one can intercept and read or alter the information.

We are required to take security precautions that meet the standards currently prescribed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). To meet these security requirements all email messages we exchange must be encrypted and signed with a Digital ID.

A Digital ID or certificate is a computer file that identifies the sender. Email software uses this file to "digitally" sign e-mail messages to prove a sender’s identity to the recipient’s computer.

A digital signature does two things:

• It lets the recipient of the e-mail confirm the identity of the sender, and

• It tells the recipient that the e-mail was not tampered with in transit.

A Digital ID typically contains the following information:

• Your public key

• Your name and e-mail address

• Expiration date of the public key

• Name of the company (the Certification Authority (CA)) who issued your Digital ID

• Serial number of the Digital ID

• Digital signature of the CA

Encryption

To encrypt (scramble) data we use a system with two keys. The key pair consists of a public and a private key. The keys are used like keys in a lock, except the key pair requires one key to secure the lock and another to open the lock.

When you request and install a Digital ID, your Web browser creates both a private key that can only be used with the Digital ID you requested, and a public key that becomes part of your Digital ID. Access to your private key will be password protected.

With key pairs, your email application will use the RRB’s public key to encrypt messages you send to us. The RRB, upon receipt of your encrypted email message, will use our matching private key to decrypt the message.

Secure Email Process

Before you can send the RRB an encrypted message, you must first get our public key. You do this by simply requesting that we send you a signed e-mail message, which contains our Digital ID and public key. Then your e-mail application can automatically store the RRB’s Digital ID with public key in your contacts folder until you need to use it. Your e-mail application uses the RRB public key to encrypt the messages you send to us. From that point on, only the RRB's private key can decrypt the message.

When the RRB sends you an encrypted message, we will use your public key. Once the email message is encrypted with your public key, only those individuals in your organization who have the matching private key can decrypt the message.

Steps:

• Aquire a Digital ID from a company called a Certification Authority (CA), for example
  Verisign or Thawte Certification. The cost of an individual Digital ID is about $20.00 per year.

• Once you have received and installed a Digital ID, distribute it to the RRB by sending an email message to the ruiaquote@rrb.gov mailbox. The Digital ID that you send contains your public key. This will allow the RRB to send you encrypted email messages using your public key. Only you will have the corresponding private key that allows you to decrypt the RRB reply.

• The RRB will reply by sending you our public key for the ruiaquote@rrb.gov mailbox.
  This will allow you to send encrypted email requests containing the RRB’s public key. Only the RRB will have the corresponding private key to decrypt the email message.

• Once the parties have stored each others’ Digital IDs, all further email exchanges can be made securely.

E-mail Requests for 12(o) and 2(f) Reimbursement Amounts

Railroad employers may send email requests for information about the amounts to be deducted from guarantee payments or injury settlements for reimbursement to the Railroad Retirement Board’s (RRB) Sickness and Unemployment Benefits Section email address:ruiaquote@rrb.gov.

Depending on the type of payment you are making, the text of your email message should include the following information:

ID-3S Information Needed: 12(o)

The following information is always needed in order to determine the amounts due under section 12(0) of the RUIA:

• The employee’s name and social security number,

• The amount of the settlement or final judgment,

• The date of settlement or final judgment, and

• The amount withheld from the settlement or judgment to satisfy the RRB's lien.

ID-3U Information Needed: 2(f)

The following information is always needed in order to determine the amounts due under section 2(f) of the RUIA:

• The employee’s name and social security number,

• The amount of the payment,

• The employee’s rate of pay,

• The period of time covered by a guarantee payment (usually a month), and

• The exact days paid in a pay for time lost claim

Email may also be used for inquiries about RUIA benefit amounts paid to employees prior to any settlement or guarantee payments. Please clearly state in such emails “For Informational Purposes Only”.

Secure Spreadsheets to Request Information About Amounts Due Under Section 2(f)

To facilitate reporting of multiple payments at one time, spreadsheets may be emailed to the ruiaquote@rrb.gov mailbox. We suggest that the spreadsheet include the following column headers:

RRB Email Replies

Under normal circumstances, you will receive a reply to your request on the first business day following the RRB's receipt of your email request. The email Form ID-3R reply from the RRB is your confirmation of the amount due under section 2(f), or the amount of the RRB's lien under section 12(o). A confirmation letter will not be sent.

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice

The RRB is authorized to collect the information requested under section 5(b) of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA). The information is needed to determine the amount of benefits reimbursable under section 12(o) or section 2(f) of the RUIA. Because you are required to provide this information under Section 9(a) of the RUIA, failure to complete and return this form could result in a fine or imprisonment or both.

We estimate that the email equivalents of Forms ID-3S and ID-3U take an average of 3 minutes per response to complete, including time for reviewing the instructions, getting the needed data, and reviewing the completed form. If you wish, send comments regarding the accuracy of our estimate or any other aspects of the forms, including suggestions for reducing completion times, to the Chief of Information Management, Railroad Retirement Board, 844 N. Rush Street, Chicago Illinois 60611-2092.