Title 20—Employees' Benefits--Volume 1
PART 336—DURATION OF NORMAL AND EXTENDED BENEFITS
§ 336.1   Introduction.
(a) General. This subpart explains how long a qualified employee may receive normal unemployment or sickness benefits under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act during a benefit year. Under section 2(c) of that Act, normal unemployment benefits are payable for up to 130 days of unemployment within a benefit year, or in an amount equal to the amount of the employee's “base year compensation”, whichever is less. A similar limitation applies to the payment of sickness benefits. An employee who exhausts his or her normal unemployment or sickness benefits may be eligible for payment of extended unemployment or extended sickness benefits under the conditions set forth in subpart B of this part.
(b) Definitions. The terms “benefit year”, “base year”, and “compensation” are defined in part 302 of this chapter. The term “registration period” is defined in parts 325 and 335 of this chapter. For the purposes of this subpart, and as explained in § 336.4 of this part, an employee's “base year compensation” may include compensation in excess of the monthly compensation base (as defined in part 302 of this chapter) even though such excess may not be counted for the purpose of determining whether such employee is a “qualified employee” within the meaning of part 302.
(c) Recovery of benefits. When unemployment or sickness benefits are recovered by the Board for one or more days, the Board will disregard those days in determining whether the employee has exhausted normal unemployment or sickness benefits with respect to the applicable benefit year.
§ 336.2   Duration of normal unemployment benefits.
(a) 130 compensable day limitation. A qualified employee who has satisfied the waiting period for a benefit year may receive benefits for a maximum of 130 days of unemployment within such benefit year, subject to the limitation on payment explained in paragraph (b) of this section. In any registration period beginning after the end of the waiting period and before the beginning of the next ensuing benefit year, benefits are payable for days of unemployment in excess of four, but the aggregate number of compensable days may not exceed 130 for the benefit year. An employee who is unemployed on all days during a registration period could have a maximum of 10 compensable days of unemployment in such registration period. The amount of benefits for each compensable day of unemployment is the amount of the daily benefit rate computed for such employee pursuant to part 330 of this chapter.
(b) Base year compensation limit. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this section, the Board will not pay unemployment benefits to a qualified employee, with respect to his or her days of unemployment within a benefit year, in an amount greater than the amount of his or her base year compensation, as computed under § 336.4 of this part.
(c) Unemployment due to a strike. The limitations set forth in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section also apply to an employee whose unemployment is due to a stoppage of work because of a strike in the establishment, premises, or enterprise at which he was last employed. But no unemployment benefits are payable for the employee's first 14 days of unemployment due to such stoppage of work.
§ 336.3   Duration of normal sickness benefits.
The duration of normal sickness benefits is the same as the duration of normal unemployment benefits, as set forth in § 336.2 of this part. A qualified employee who has satisfied the benefit year waiting period and is otherwise eligible for sickness benefits may receive benefits for a maximum of 130 days of sickness within a benefit year, but the amount paid as sickness benefits may not exceed the amount of the employee's base year compensation, as computed under § 336.4 of this part.
§ 336.4   Base year compensation.
(a) Formula. For the purposes of this part, an employee's base year compensation includes any compensation in excess of the monthly compensation base (as defined in part 302 of this chapter) for any month in the applicable base year but shall not include any amount that exceeds the value of “X” in the following formula: X = $775(A/$600). In this formula, “A” is the dollar amount of the monthly compensation base with respect to months in such base year. For example, if an employee had railroad earnings of $1,500 per month in each of three months in base year 1990, the employee's base year compensation for purposes of part 302 of this chapter would be $2,235 (three times the monthly compensation base of $745 per month for months in 1990). But the employee's base year compensation for purposes of computing maximum normal unemployment (or sickness) benefits under this subpart would be $2,886 (three times $962), and his or her normal unemployment (or sickness) benefits would not be considered exhausted until he or she is paid unemployment (or sickness) benefits in an amount equal to $2,886. In this example, $962 is the amount computed as the value of “X” in the above formula when “A” is equal to $745.
(b) Employer's duty to report. The base year employer(s) of an employee shall provide information as to the amount of an employee's monthly compensation in excess of the monthly compensation base, as defined in part 302 of this chapter, unless the amount of the employee's compensation at the monthly compensation base limit, as already reported to the Board, is equal to or greater than an amount equal to 130 times the daily benefit rate applicable to the employee's days of unemployment or days of sickness.
§ 336.5   Notice to employee.
The Board will notify an employee when it appears that his or her right to normal unemployment or normal sickness benefits will be exhausted. Such notice will include information about the availability of extended benefits under subpart B of this part if the employee has completed 10 years of railroad service and the availability of normal benefits for the next ensuing benefit year if the employee is not eligible for extended benefits.
§ 336.10   Eligibility.
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, an employee may receive extended unemployment or extended sickness benefits under this part if he or she:
(1) Has exhausted normal unemployment or normal sickness benefits (as the case may be) under subpart A of this part;
(2) Has completed 10 years of railroad service, as set forth in § 336.13 of this part; and
(3) Continues to have days of unemployment or days of sickness, as the case may be.
(b) An employee is not eligible for extended sickness benefits if he or she has voluntarily retired or has attained age 65. In the case of claims for unemployment benefits, an employee is not eligible for extended unemployment benefits if he or she has voluntarily left work without good cause or has voluntarily retired.
§ 336.11   Exhaustion of rights to normal unemployment benefits.
For the purposes of this part, the Board considers that an employee has exhausted his or her current rights to normal benefits for days of unemployment if:
(a) The employee received unemployment benefits for 130 days of unemployment in the benefit year; or
(b) The employee received unemployment benefits in the benefit year equal to the amount of his or her base year compensation; or
(c) At the end of a normal benefit year during which the employee was qualified for benefits, he or she received less than the maximum unemployment benefits for the benefit year and he or she is not qualified for benefits in the next succeeding benefit year.
§ 336.12   Exhaustion of rights to normal sickness benefits.
For the purposes of this part, the Board considers that an employee has exhausted his or her current rights to normal benefits for days of sickness if:
(a) The employee received sickness benefits for 130 days of sickness in the benefit year; or
(b) The employee received sickness benefits in the benefit year equal to the amount of his or her base year compensation; or
(c) At the end of the normal benefit year during which the employee was qualified for benefits, he or she received less than the maximum sickness benefits for the benefit year and he or she is not qualified for benefits in the next succeeding benefit year.
§ 336.13   Years of service requirement.
(a) Eligibility. For the purposes of this part, an employee is not eligible for extended unemployment or sickness benefits if he or she does not have at least 10 years of railroad service. An employee who has 120 service months, as defined in part 210 of this chapter, whether or not consecutive, is considered to have 10 years of railroad service.
(b) Initial determination. The Board will determine whether an employee has 10 years of railroad service on the basis of reports filed by employers pursuant to part 209 of this chapter. The number of years of service shown in the Board's records will be accepted as correct for the purposes of this part, unless the employee claims credit for more service than that shown in the Board's records and such additional service is verified, subject to part 211 of this chapter.
(c) Effective date. An employee acquires ten years of railroad service as of the first day with respect to which creditable compensation is attributable in his 120th month of service.
§ 336.14   Extended benefit period.
(a) Defined. An extended benefit period consists of seven consecutive 14-day registration periods.
(b) Beginning date. In the case of unemployment benefits, an extended benefit period begins with the first day of unemployment after the day on which the employee exhausts his or her rights to normal unemployment benefits. In the case of sickness benefits, the beginning date is the first day of sickness after the employee exhausts normal sickness benefits. Such first day of unemployment or first day of sickness must be within the same benefit year with respect to which the employee exhausted normal unemployment or normal sickness benefits, as the case may be. However, no extended benefit period may begin on any day of unemployment or sickness prior to the date on which the employee acquired 10 years of railroad service.
(c) Ending date. An employee's extended benefit period ends on the 97th day after it began. If an employee attains age 65 during an extended sickness benefit period, such extended benefit period will terminate on the day next preceding the date on which the employee attains age 65, except that it may continue for the purpose of paying benefits for his or her days of unemployment, if any, during such extended period. If an extended sickness benefit period terminates because the employee has attained age 65, and if at that point the employee has rights to normal sickness benefits, the employee will be paid normal sickness benefits if he or she is otherwise entitled to payment thereof.
(d) Maximum number of compensable days. Extended benefits may be paid for a maximum of 65 days of unemployment (or 65 days of sickness, as the case may be) within an employee's extended benefit period.
§ 336.15   How to claim extended benefits.
An employee who has 10 or more years of railroad service who exhausts his or her rights to normal unemployment or normal sickness benefits and who wishes to claim extended unemployment or extended sickness benefits may do so by claiming benefits on the forms provided by the Board pursuant to parts 325 or 335 of this chapter. The claim forms provided for this purpose are the same as those provided for claiming normal benefits. No special application for extended benefits is required, and no waiting period applies to the payment of extended benefits.
§ 336.16   Notice to employee.
Upon determining that an employee is eligible for a period of extended unemployment or sickness benefits, the Board will notify the employee of the beginning and ending dates of such extended benefit period.