Prepared by Public Affairs 312-751-4777
Many railroad employees have at some time served in the Armed Forces of the
United States. Under certain conditions, their military service may be credited
as rail service under the
Railroad Retirement Act.
The following questions and answers provide information on how military service
may be credited towards railroad retirement benefits.
1. Under what conditions can military
service be credited as railroad service?
The intent behind the crediting of military service under the Railroad
Retirement Act is to prevent career railroad employees from losing retirement
credits while performing active duty military service during a war or national
emergency period. Therefore, to be creditable as railroad service under the
Railroad Retirement Act, active duty service in the U.S. Armed Forces must be
preceded by railroad service in the same or preceding calendar year. With the
exceptions noted later, the employee must also have entered military service
when the United States was at war or in a state of national emergency or have
served in the Armed Forces involuntarily. Military service is involuntary when
an employee is required by law, such as Selective Service System conscription or
troop call-up from a reserve unit, to leave railroad service to perform active
duty military service.
Only active duty military service is creditable under the Railroad Retirement
Act. A person is considered to have been on active duty while commissioned or
enrolled in the active service of the Armed Forces of the United States
(including the U.S. Coast Guard); or while ordered to Federal active duty from
any reserve component of the uniformed Armed Forces.
2. What are some examples of creditable
service performed by a member of a reserve component, such as the Army Reserve?
Any military service a reservist was required to perform as a result of a
call-up to active duty, such as during the current partial mobilization, would
be creditable under the Railroad Retirement Act, so long as the military service
was preceded by railroad service in the same or preceding year.
Annual training duty as a member of a reserve component of a uniformed service
is also considered active duty and may be creditable, provided the employee
service requirement is met. The
period of active duty for training also includes authorized travel time to and
from any such training duty. However, weekend alone or evening reserve duty is
not creditable.
Active duty in a State National Guard or State Air National Guard unit may be
creditable only while the reservist was called to Federal active duty by the
Congress or President of the United States. Emergency call-up of the National
Guard by a governor for riot or flood control would not be creditable.
3. What are the dates of the war or national
emergency periods?
The creditable periods that affect current retirements are:
- September 8, 1939, through June 14, 1948.
- December 16, 1950, through September 14, 1978.
- August 2, 1990, to date as yet undetermined.
If military service began during a war or national emergency period, any
active duty service the employee was required to continue in beyond the end of
the war or national emergency is creditable, except that voluntary service
extending beyond September 14, 1978, is not creditable.
Railroad workers who voluntarily served in the Armed Forces between June 15,
1948, and December 15, 1950, when there was no declared national state of
emergency, can be given railroad retirement credit for their military service if
they:
- performed railroad service in the year they entered or the year before
they entered military service, and;
- returned to rail service in the year their military service ended or in
the following year, and;
- had no intervening nonrailroad employment.
4. How can military service be used to
increase benefits paid by the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB)?
Railroad retirement annuities are based on length of service and earnings. If
military service is creditable as railroad service, a person will receive
additional compensation credits for each month of creditable military service
and railroad service credit for each active military service month not already
credited by actual railroad service.
Creditable military service may be used in addition to regular railroad service
to meet certain service requirements, such as the basic 10-year or 5-year
service requirements for a regular annuity, the 20-year requirement for an
occupational disability annuity before age 60, the 25-year requirement for a
supplemental annuity, or the 30-year requirement for early retirement benefits.
5. Can United States Merchant Marine service be creditable for railroad
retirement purposes?
No. Service with the Merchant Marine or civilian employment with the Department
of Defense is not creditable, even if performed in wartime.
6. Are railroad retirement annuities based in part on military service credits
reduced if other benefits, such as military service pensions or payments from
the Department of Veterans Affairs, are also payable on the basis of the same
military service?
No. While railroad retirement employee annuities are subject to reductions for
dual entitlement to social security benefits and, under certain conditions,
Federal, State, or local government pensions, as well as certain other payments,
railroad retirement employee annuities are always exempt from reduction for
military service pensions or payments by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
7. Are the unemployment and sickness benefits payable by the RRB affected if an
employee is also receiving a military service pension?
Yes. The unemployment and sickness benefits payable by the RRB are affected if a
claimant is also receiving a military service pension. However, payments made by
the Department of Veterans Affairs will not affect railroad unemployment or
sickness benefits.
When a claimant is receiving a military service pension or benefits under any
social insurance law for days in which he or she is entitled to benefits under
the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, railroad unemployment or sickness
benefits are payable only to the extent to which they exceed the other payments
for those days. In many cases, the amount of a military service pension
precludes the payment of unemployment or sickness benefits by the RRB. Examples
of other such social insurance payments are civil service pensions,
firefighters’ and police pensions, and certain workers’ compensation payments.
Claimants should report all such payments promptly to avoid having to refund
benefits later.
8. Can proof of military service be filed in advance of retirement?
Railroad employees are encouraged to file proofs of their military service well
in advance of retirement. The information will be recorded and stored
electronically until they actually retire. This will expedite the annuity
application process and avoid any delays resulting from inadequate proofs.
If employees do not have an official record of their military service, their
local RRB office will explain how to get acceptable evidence. All evidence
brought or mailed to an RRB office will be handled carefully and returned
promptly.
9. How can an employee get more information about the crediting of military
service by the RRB?
For more information, an employee should contact the
nearest office of the RRB. Most RRB offices
are open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except on Federal holidays.
Employees can find the address and phone number of the RRB office serving their
area by calling the automated toll-free
RRB Help Line at
1-800-808-0772. They can also get this information from the agency’s Web site at
www.rrb.gov.
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