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Each year, the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) prepares a
“Certificate of Service Months and Compensation” (Form BA-6) for every railroad
employee who received creditable railroad compensation in the previous calendar
year. The forms will be mailed to employees by the RRB during the first half of
June. While every effort has been made to maintain current addresses for all
active railroad employees, anyone with compensation reported in 2011 who has not
received Form BA-6 by July 1, or needs a replacement, should contact the nearest
RRB field office by calling the agency’s toll-free number, 1-877-772-5772.
Form BA-6 provides employees with a record of their railroad retirement service
and compensation. While the form has no cash value, the information shown is
used to determine whether an employee qualifies for benefits and the amount of
those benefits.
It is important that employees review their Form BA-6 to see whether their own
records of service months and creditable compensation agree with the figures
shown on the form. In checking the 2011 compensation total, employees should be
aware that only annual earnings up to $106,800 were creditable for railroad
retirement purposes in that year, and that $106,800 is the maximum amount shown
on the form. To assist employees in reviewing their service credits, the form
also shows service credited on a month-by-month basis for 2010, 2009, and 2008,
when the creditable compensation maximums were $106,800 for those first two
years and $102,000 in 2008. The form also identifies the employer(s) reporting
the employee’s 2011 service and compensation.
Besides the months of service reported by employers, Form BA-6 shows the number
of any additional service months deemed by the RRB. Deemed service months may be
credited under certain conditions for an employee who did not work in all 12
months of the year, but had creditable tier II earnings exceeding monthly
prorations of the creditable tier II earnings maximum for the year. However, the
total of reported and deemed service months may never exceed 12 in a calendar
year; and no service months, reported or deemed, can be credited after
retirement, severance, resignation, discharge, or death.
Form BA-6 shows the number of months of verified military service creditable as
service under the Railroad Retirement Act, if the service was previously
reported to the RRB. Employees are encouraged to submit proofs of age and/or
military service in advance of their actual retirement. Filing these proofs with
the RRB in advance will streamline the benefit application process and prevent
payment delays.
For employees who received separation or severance payments, the section of the
form designated “Taxable Amount” shows the amounts reported by employers of any
separation allowance or severance payments that were subject to railroad
retirement tier II taxes. This information is shown on the form because a lump
sum, approximating part or all of the tier II taxes deducted from such payments
made after 1984 which did not provide additional tier II credits, may be payable
by the RRB upon retirement to qualified employees or to survivors if the
employee dies before retirement. The amount of an allowance included in an
employee’s regular compensation is shown under “Compensation Amount.”
Form BA-6 also shows, in the section designated “Employee Contributions,” the
cumulative amount of tier II railroad retirement payroll taxes paid by the
employee over and above tier I social security equivalent payroll taxes. While
the RRB does not collect or maintain payroll tax information, the agency
computes this amount from its compensation records in order to advise retired
employees of their payroll tax contributions for Federal income tax purposes.
Employees should check their name, address, birth date and sex shown at the top
of the form. If the form shows the birth date as 99- 9999 and the gender code is
“U” (for unknown), it means the RRB is verifying his or her social security
number with the Social Security Administration. Otherwise, if the personal
identifying information is incorrect or incomplete (generally a case where the
employee’s surname has more than 10 letters and the form shows only the first 10
letters) or the address is not correct, the employee should contact an RRB field
office. The field office can then correct the RRB’s records. This is important
in order to prevent identity or security-related problems that could arise if
the employee wants to use certain Internet services available on the RRB’s
website at www.rrb.gov.
Employees may view their railroad retirement service and compensation records;
get annuity estimates; apply for or claim railroad unemployment benefits; claim
sickness benefits; and access their railroad unemployment insurance account
statements through the RRB’s website. To use these online services, an employee
must first establish an RRB Internet Services account. For security purposes,
first time users must apply for a Password Request Code, which they will receive
by mail in about 10 business days. To do this, employees should click on
“requesting a Password Request Code (PRC)” in the “Benefit Online Services
Login” section on the home page.
Employees can also request that printouts of their individual railroad
retirement records of service months and compensation be mailed to them. A
PIN/Password is not required to use this service. It can be accessed by visiting
www.rrb.gov,
moving the cursor over the “Beneficiaries & RR Employees” category
and then clicking on “Request Service & Compensation History.”
If the employee’s name was incomplete on Form BA-6, and he or she has not yet
contacted an RRB field office to correct it, the employee should enter his or
her first and middle initials and his or her surname
just as it appears on the Form BA-6 or a
previously furnished printout of service and compensation, along with the
other requested information.
Any other discrepancies in Form BA-6 should be reported promptly in writing to:
Protest Unit-CESC, U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, 844 North Rush Street,
Chicago, Illinois 60611-2092. The employee must include his or her social
security number in the letter. Form BA-6 also explains what other documentation
and information should be provided. The law limits to four years the period
during which corrections to service and compensation amounts can be made.
For most employees, the address of the RRB office serving their area is provided
on the form along with the RRB’s nationwide toll-free number (1-877-772-5772).
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.
Note: The sample Form BA-6
may only be viewed
in the PDF format of this
press release.
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