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:
SSN |
Name |
No. of days Paid |
Rate of pay |
Protection payment Amount |
Period Covered |
Comments |
RRB Recovery Amount |
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.