106 Statement or Estimate of Railroad
Retirement Benefits Upon request, the RRB will provide a report of the
amount of the monthly annuity being paid to a retired railroad employee and a
breakdown of the divisible and non-divisible components. If the employee is not
retired but has completed 10 years of railroad service, or 5 years of railroad
service after 1995, the RRB will estimate the divisible and non-divisible
monthly benefit amounts that would be payable if the employee were of retirement
age at the time of the request. Estimates are
not available until the employee has
acquired the above-noted railroad service.
106.01 Basis of Statement or Estimate
The RRB computes benefit estimates on the basis of its record of the
employee's service and earnings. The RRB's records are updated annually on the
basis of employer reports of employee service and earnings for the previous
year. Benefit estimates are gross annuity amounts before any reductions.
(Examples of annuity reductions include age reduction for early retirement, reduction
for additional benefit entitlement, deductions for work, Medicare premium
deductions, etc.)
106.02 Report of Creditable Service and
Compensation
Each year, the RRB issues Form BA-6 to railroad employees, showing the
employee's service for the previous calendar year and his or her total
creditable railroad service and compensation. The amount of creditable railroad
compensation does not in any way
reflect the "value" of the employee's railroad retirement benefits.
106.03 Future Benefits
The RRB cannot furnish the present value of future benefits. Further,
the RRB will not make computations based upon statistics or procedures not
maintained by the RRB in its administration of the RRA. The RRB can provide
information only to the extent it is maintained in its official records.
106.04 Disclosure of Employee Information
The RRB can provide other information about the employee only if the employee
authorizes the RRB to release it to another party. Information concerning an
individual is not subject to disclosure even though it has been made the subject
of a subpoena. See 20 CFR §§ 295.6 and 200.8. See also Hubbard v. Southern
Railway Company, 179 F.Supp. 244 (D.C. M.D. Ga., 1959). As stated in 20 CFR §
295.6, the RRB treats a subpoena as a request for a benefit report or estimate.
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