Waiting Period

To satisfy a waiting period requirement, no benefits are payable for your first 7 days of unemployment in your first claim in a period of continuing unemployment, unless you have already served a waiting period in the benefit year. Benefits are payable for each remaining day of unemployment in your first claim. For example, if you claim all 14 days in your first claim, you will be paid benefits for 7 days. If you are eligible and your claims are continuous from one benefit year to another, you generally will serve only one waiting period in your period of continuing unemployment.

A period of continuing unemployment means a period of time for which you file claims for unemployment benefits where (1) each claim has 5 or more valid days of unemployment, and (2) each claim begins within 15 days after the previous claim ends. For example, claims for the 14-day periods beginning June 17 and July 15 are in the same period of continuing unemployment. The second claim starts within 15 days after June 30, the last day of the claim period beginning June 17. So benefits are payable for days over 4 in the claim period beginning July 15. If the second claim began July 16, however, a 7-day waiting period would apply because that claim would start the first period of continuing unemployment in the new benefit year.

If you have at least 5, 6 or 7 days of unemployment in a 14-day period, you should file a claim for benefits. Even though no benefits would be payable if the claim is your first claim in the benefit year, your claim must be filed in order to satisfy the waiting period requirement. After your first claim, benefits will be paid for all days over 4 for other claims in the benefit year.

Normal Benefits

You can receive normal benefits for as many as 130 days (26 weeks) in a benefit year, but your benefits cannot be more than your base year wages counting not more than a prescribed amount for any month. Benefit rights are exhausted when a benefit year ends (normally June 30) or earlier if benefit payments equal base year creditable earnings.

Example:
For purposes of determining maximum normal benefits payable in the general benefit year beginning July 1, 2009, monthly earnings of up to $1,653.00 are counted for months in base year 2008. For base year 2009, the monthly compensation base for maximum benefits is $1,718.00.

Extended Benefits

If you have 10 or more years of service and exhaust your normal unemployment benefits, you may be eligible to receive extended benefits for up to 65 days (7 consecutive 14-day claim periods having 10 days payable in each). Also, if you are not qualified for benefits in the current benefit year, but received normal benefits in the previous year, you may still be eligible for extended benefits.

To qualify for extended benefits, you must not have voluntarily quit work without good cause or voluntarily retired.

Accelerated Benefits

Under certain special provisions, if you have 10 or more years of service, you can receive benefits before the regular beginning date of a benefit year. In addition to having 10 or more years of service, you must be qualified for the next benefit year, but not the current year, and have 14 or more consecutive days of unemployment.

Daily Benefit Rate

Your daily benefit rate is 60 % of the daily rate of pay for your last job in the base year, but not less than $12.70 a day nor more than 5% of the monthly compensation base. For example, the monthly compensation base for 2008 is $1,280.00, which results in a maximum daily benefit rate of $64.00 for periods beginning after June 30, 2009. The maximum daily benefit rate is subject to increases under indexing rules reflecting the growth in average national wages. Contact your local RRB field office if you need information about the maximum benefit rates for other periods.

Your daily rate of pay is your straight-time rate of pay including any cost-of-living allowances, but not including overtime or other extra pay.

For mileage employees in train and engine service, the straight-time rate is the rate of pay for the number of miles in a basic workday, depending on occupation and class of service. Earnings for miles run over the number of miles in a basic workday do not count.

Number of Days of Unemployment

After you have satisfied the benefit year waiting period requirement, benefits are generally paid for days of unemployment over 4 in 14-day claim periods.

Strike Benefits

If you are unemployed because of a strike, benefits are not payable for your first 14 days of unemployment due to the strike. If a strike is in violation of the Railway Labor Act or is not authorized by the national office of the striking labor organization, unemployment benefits are not payable to employees participating in the strike. However, employees not among those participating in an illegal strike, but who are unemployed because of the strike, may receive benefits after the first 2 weeks of the strike.