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Please share this information with the appropriate members of your staff who file service and compensation reporting forms for employees of your organization.

Background

Section 12 of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act authorizes the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) to operate a free employment service. The goals of the employment service are to secure new employment for experienced railroad workers who are unemployed, and to provide a pool of experienced labor for employers. The purpose of this circular letter is to explain how employers can best utilize the RRB's employment services, and to review certain Federal laws regarding railroad hiring.

RRB employment services

The three basic employment services operated by the RRB include:

• The Central Register
• The Job Vacancy Listing
• A centralized site on the Internet listing available railroad jobs with links to employer employment Internet sites.

An explanation of each employment service follows.

Central Register

The RRB maintains a central register of railroad employees with at least one year of railroad service who have declared their current availability for employment. The register is maintained on a computer database allowing the selection of employees by: occupation;, number of years of experience in the occupation; location of residence of the employee; last employer; and willingness to relocate.

Lists of available candidates

Upon request, the RRB can furnish employers with employee listings from the register that are tailored to an employer's job vacancy requirements. For example, an employer can be furnished a list of all electricians and signalmen with at least two years of experience who are willing to relocate to the eastern United States. The employer could then use the list to contact prospective candidates.

Notices to prospective job candidates

Alternatively, arrangements can be made for the RRB to mail notices to targeted employees instructing those interested in a particular vacancy to submit a resume or otherwise contact the employer.

Using the central register

Requests in writing or by telephone for listings from the central register may be directed to your local RRB field office. You can click here to locate the nearest RRB field office or call our toll-free Help-Line at 1-800-808-0772.

Job vacancy listing

The RRB maintains a listing of railroad related job vacancies. The listing is available through the RRB field offices to railroad employees interested in seeking new jobs. When an employer posts a job vacancy with a RRB field office, unemployed experienced railroad workers throughout the country can be made aware of the opening.

Notices of job vacancies may be provided to the RRB either by telephone or by mail and should include:

• approximate number of employees to be hired;
• location of the jobs;
• class or craft of the jobs or a description of the work to be performed in the jobs; and
• name, address, and telephone number of the individual with authority to hire employees for each of the job openings.

If arrangements are not already in place, we suggest that your local hiring officials contact the nearest RRB field office concerning the reporting of job vacancies.

Internet site

The RRB maintains a listing of employer job vacancies on the Internet. The web-site address for this listing is www.rrb.gov. This listing is updated weekly with new job vacancies. For further information on any of the vacancies that are listed, an employee can call the nearest RRB Office for details. Employers that maintain a website, which includes their job openings, can link this site to our agency's website. To obtain more information, contact the Railroad Retirement Board's webmaster through our web site or send an e-mail directly to webmaster@rrb.gov.

Benefit to employers

The RRB requests employers to report job vacancy information to the agency. Although furnishing job vacancy information is voluntary, failure to furnish it defeats the purpose of the RRB's placement program by decreasing the opportunities for reemployment of persons claiming railroad unemployment insurance benefits. This in turn increases the amounts of benefits charged to employers, and can affect contribution rates under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act.

Questions

If you have questions or need additional information about the RRB's placement program, please contact the manager of your local RRB district office.

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, Federal agencies are required to estimate reporting burdens associated with their programs. We estimate that reporting information about a job vacancy requires about 10 minutes, including the time for obtaining the needed data and furnishing the report(OMB 3220-0057). Federal agencies may not conduct or sponsor, and respondents are not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB number. If you wish, send comments regarding the accuracy of our estimate or any other aspect of this program, including suggestions for reducing reporting time, to the Chief of Information Resources Management, Railroad Retirement Board, 844 North Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611-2092.