Prepared by:
Quality Reporting Service Center
Railroad Retirement Board
844 North Rush Street
Chicago, Illinois 60611-2092
Phone: |
(312) 751-4992 |
Fax: |
(312) 751-7190 |
E-mail: |
QRSC@rrb.gov |
Purpose The purpose of this
program letter is to inform you of:
- a new benefit year beginning date and qualifications;
- an increase in the maximum daily benefit rate; and
- a new dollar threshold for determining whether the earnings test applies
New benefit year
A new benefit year for railroad unemployment and
sickness insurance benefits begins July 1, 2009 and ends June 30, 2010.
New benefit year qualifications
To qualify for benefits in the new benefit year, an employee must have $3,200.00
in creditable railroad earnings in calendar year 2008, counting no more than
$1,280.00 per month. If 2008 was an employee's first year of railroad work, he
or she must also have railroad service in at least 5 months of 2008.
Waiting period Benefits are payable for days of unemployment or
sickness over 7 in an employee's first 14-day claim in the new benefit year.
This satisfies a required one-week waiting period. The one-week waiting period
applies to both the first claim for unemployment benefits and the first claim
for sickness benefits in the benefit year. In order to satisfy the waiting
period requirement, the first claim must contain more than 4 days of
unemployment or sickness. Initial sickness claims must begin with 4
consecutive days of sickness. After the waiting period is satisfied, benefits
are generally payable for the number of days of unemployment or sickness over
4 in each 14-day claim period.
The change in benefit years will not cause an interruption in the payment
of normal benefits to claimants who continue to be unemployed or sick from one
benefit year into the next benefit year. An employee who continues to be
unemployed or sick from one benefit year into the next needs to satisfy only
one waiting period; a second waiting period is not required when the
employee's benefit claims continue into a new benefit year.
Employees who are currently receiving extended unemployment benefits or
extended sickness benefits also do not have another waiting period at this
time. A new waiting period is required only if the employee claims benefits in
the new benefit year. The new benefit year begins after the end of the
extension of the previous benefit year.
Maximum daily benefit rate The maximum daily benefit rate for railroad
unemployment and sickness benefits increases to $64.00 for registration periods
beginning after June 30, 2009. The maximum daily benefit rate is indexed to
national wage levels.
The maximum benefit rate will yield $640.00 for two full weeks of
unemployment or sickness (10 days at $64.00 per day). Some sickness benefits
are subject to withholding of 7.65% for tier I retirement taxes, which can
reduce biweekly payments to $591.04 from $640.00 for a full 2-week claim.
Earnings test rules Under the RUIA’s earnings test provision,
unemployment benefits are not payable for any registration period in which the
total amount of an employee's earnings or other remuneration from railroad and
non-railroad work for days in the period exceeds the amount of the RUIA
monthly compensation base. For claims in benefit year 2008, the earnings test
amount is $1,230.00; for claims in benefit year 2009, the earnings test amount
is $1,280.00.
Note: Although no benefits are payable for days denied because of the
earnings test, the days remain days of unemployment for purposes of satisfying
the waiting period requirement and determining periods of continuing
unemployment. In addition, the earnings test does not apply to claims for
sickness benefits.
Reporting earnings on prepayment notices When you review our notices
of unemployment claims filed by your employees, please check on whether the
employee's earnings for days in the period exceeded the amount of the monthly
compensation base.
Use the following table to determine how to report the amount of the
employee's earnings.
on paper notice Form ID-4K |
telephoning the RRB office shown on our notice. |
electronically through RAILINC |
indicating the employee's earnings in the NTE segment of your
response, e.g. show "Gross Earnings Equal $______. |
Note: Days claimed by an employee but denied because of the earnings test
are indicated by a day code of 4 in the Claim Profile area on our notices of
benefit claims (Forms ID-4E and ID-4K, and electronic RU1 and RU4 notices). A
day code of 4 also indicates a claimed day of unemployment denied because of
mileage or other work restrictions. A list of day codes and their
corresponding meanings is included as attachment A with this letter.
Additional information For additional information about the earnings
test for unemployment claims and other provisions of the RUIA , please refer
to our Circular Letter No. UI-C-233. For information
about our prepayment notices of claims, refer to Circular Letter No.
UI-C-229.
RRB Online Services Claimants may file their unemployment benefit
applications (and subsequent biweekly claims) via the Internet. Employees are
encouraged to establish online accounts while still employed so the account is
ready if they ever need to apply for these benefits or use other internet
services. To file their applications and claims via the Internet, claimants
should access the Railroad Retirement Boards website at
www.RRB.gov. Then they should access the section
“Benefit Online Services” for directions on establishing an RRB Internet
Services account. Once they establish their online accounts, they will be able
to file their applications and claims for unemployment benefits, as well as
conduct other business with the RRB, over the Internet.
Contact Please call Edward Roberts of Policy and Systems for any comments or questions about information in
this program letter. His telephone number is (312) 751-7139 extension 2159.
0 |
Day not claimed
|
Day not claimed
|
1 |
Claimed day of unemployment/available for work
|
Claimed day of sickness
|
2 |
Employed, day not claimed
|
Employed, day not claimed |
3 |
Claimed day of unemployment, denied for miscellaneous reasons
|
Claimed day of sickness, denied for miscellaneous reasons
|
4 |
Claimed day of unemployment, denied because of work restrictions
|
Claimed day of sickness, denied due to improper advance
registration
|
5 |
Claimed day of unemployment, denied due to improper registration
|
Claimed day of sickness, denied due to improper delayed
registration
|
6 |
Claimed day of unemployment, denied for miscellaneous reasons
|
Claimed day of sickness, denied for miscellaneous reasons
|
7 |
Claimed day of unemployment, benefits reduced because of social
insurance
|
Claimed day of sickness, benefits reduced because of social
insurance |
8 |
Claimed day of unemployment, denied because of unavailability
for work
|
Claimed day of sickness, denied due to ability to work
|
9 |
Claimed day of unemployment, denied because of receipt of
remuneration |
Claimed day of sickness, denied because of the receipt of
remuneration
|
|