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National Rail Employer Seminar, May 10-12, 2006 

HURRY! The deadline for registering for the RRB sixth National Rail Employer Training Seminar, May 10 – 12, 2006 at the Allerton Crowne Plaza Hotel in Chicago, IL. is fast approaching. Reservations at the hotel must be received by April 9 to receive the discounted rate. We only have a limited number of discounted rooms available but you can still register after April 9th. You can contact the hotel at (312) 440-1500 or (800) 227-6963 or on the Internet, you can go to http://www.allertonchi.crowneplaza.com/reservation.html. The seminar will begin at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, May 10th and will conclude 10:30 a.m. Friday, May 12th.

Join the 65 fellow rail industry personnel already signed up for this event. New this year are two discussion sessions running concurrently on Friday: one for Class I railroads and the other for Short-line and Regional railroads. Commuter railroads may attend either session. Take this opportunity to exchange ideas and offer your opinions and suggestions on the collection of information and the services we can provide in the future. We also have added a general session on our implementation of the new Medicare legislation. Our luncheon speaker will describe the RRB’s disaster recovery experiences in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

If you did not receive registration material, the information is available on the RRB website at www.rrb.gov or call the Quality Reporting Service Center (QRSC) at (312) 751-4992 and we can forward the registration material to you. Do not delay, register today!!.

Annual Reporting Deadline Has Passed

The deadline for filing your annual reports of service and compensation, February 28, 2006, has come and gone. If you still have not filed your reports, you will be hearing from us soon. We are now releasing delinquent notices, to be followed with subpoenas if necessary. Please get your reports in (on cartridge, CD or diskette), as soon as possible, to avoid the extra administrative work on both our parts. If you are having difficulty in preparing your report, please contact us. That’s what we’re here for.

This data must be posted in the employee accounts so that they can review the information for accuracy and determine their eligibility for benefits from this agency. Employers who do not have creditable service and compensation to report for the previous calendar year must advise the RRB of this fact in writing or by filing Form G-440 and checking the appropriate item. (E-mailing us a written notice of a “zero” report is also acceptable.).

Pay.gov Makes Repayments Easier

Rail industry employees, RRB annuitants and employers now have the option of paying your debts via the Internet by using the Department of Treasury’s new Pay.gov system which is accessible through the RRB’s website at www.rrb.gov. Pay.gov is a convenient and fast electronic alternative to mailing a check. It is available 24 hours a day and it is accessible from any computer with Internet access. After entering requested identifying information on Pay.gov, RRB debtors will be directed to the appropriate collection form to pay with a credit card or an ACH direct debit of funds from their bank account. Employers can only use the ACH direct debit method. To find out more, visit the RRB's website, click on "Benefit On-Line Services (Mainline)" and follow the links that will take you to an appropriate collection form.

Employee Address Request

Employers are required to file an address report for all new hires in 2005 with the Railroad Retirement Board. In addition to this report which is due by April 1 each year, the RRB will run an address request project in order to reduce the number of undeliverable Forms BA-6, Certificate of Service and Compensation. In order to accomplish this, the address information must be received and processed no later than May 11, 2006. If you receive a listing, please fill in the missing address and return it to the Board as soon as possible.

You can also file your missing addresses on the Internet through our secure site called the Employer Reporting System (ERS) if you have access. To learn more about the ERS or to apply for access, go to www.rrb.gov and select “Program Letters to Employers” and click on PL04-02. If you have questions contact QRSC at the telephone number or e-mail address listed above.

QRSC Says Goodbye to One of Our Brightest Stars!!

The Quality Reporting Service Center (QRSC) is losing one of our highly-regarded employees. Carol Arnold is retiring from the Board on March 31, 2006. Carol’s work was dedicated to improving the quality of the RRB’s service and compensation data through training, communication and service to employers. Her most recent accomplishment was as Project Manager over the development of the Employer Reporting System (ERS). This system allows employers to file service and compensation information over the Internet. Carol’s knowledge, skills and personal attention will truly be missed!! Anyone who needs information on ERS or any of the services that Carol has provided should contact QRSC at the telephone number or e-mail address listed above.

Secure Email Exchange Using Digital IDs

Under certain circumstances, employers are required to reimburse the RRB for unemployment and sickness insurance benefits paid to their employees under sections 2(f) and 12(o) of the RUIA. The RRB now offers an email equivalent of facsimile forms ID-3S and ID-3U. Because these 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. To meet these security requirements all sensitive 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. For more information see Program Letter 06-05, E-mail Requests for 12(o) and 2(f) Reimbursement Amounts on the RRB website or call (312) 751-4820.

Future Change in Service and Compensation Related Reports

We recently released Program Letters 05-03, 05-06 and 06-03 on the database expansion and the future changes to service and compensation reports to allow employers ample time to make these changes. The implementation date is set for January 2008 which means that earnings and address reports for the 2007 earnings year must be reported in the new formats or using revised forms, which will be made available by the Fall of 2007. However, we see that some employers are already reporting the actual daily pay rates in the new formats. Please continue to report using the maximum of $99.99 and all current reporting formats until the implementation date.