Title 20—Employees' Benefits--Volume 1
PART 209—RAILROAD EMPLOYERS' REPORTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
§ 209.1   General.
Benefits under the Railroad Retirement Act are based in part upon an individual's years of service and amount of compensation credited to the individual under the Act. It is the duty of the Board to gather, keep and compile such records and data as may be necessary to assure proper administration of the Act. This part sets forth the types of reports employers are required to make to the Board and states the penalties that the Board may impose upon employers and employees who fail or refuse to make required reports.
§ 209.2   Duty to furnish information and records.
In the administration of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974, the Board may require any employer or employee to furnish or submit any information, records, contracts, documents, reports or other materials within their possession or control, that, in the judgment of the Board, may have any bearing upon:
(a) The employer status of any individual, person or company,
(b) The employee or pension status of any individual,
(c) The amount and creditability of service and compensation, or
(d) Any other matter arising which involves the administration of the Railroad Retirement Act. Any person who knowingly fails or refuses to make any report or furnish any information required by the Board, may be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both.
§ 209.3   Social security number required.
Each employer shall furnish to the Board a social security number for each employee for whom any report is submitted to the Board. Employers are encouraged to validate any social security number provided under this section.
§ 209.4   Method of filing.
Any report or information required to be furnished under this part shall be prepared in accordance with instructions of the Board and shall be filed with the Board electronically, which includes the use of magnetic tape, computer diskette, electronic data interchange, or on such form as prescribed by the Board. If not filed electronically, reports shall be transmitted by facsimile or mailed directly to the Board. Any report which includes, or should include, information for 250 or more employees must be filed electronically, as described in this section.
§ 209.5   Information regarding change in status.
It is the duty of each employer to promptly notify the Board of:
(a) Any change in the employer's operations, ownership or control of the employer which affects its status as an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act;
(b) Any change in the ownership or control by the employer in any company which may affect the status of the company as an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act or Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act; and
(c) The gain of ownership or control by the employer of any company which may give that company status as an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. The notice must fully advise the Board of the type of change in ownership, the date of the change, the number of employees affected by the change and any other information pertinent to the change.
§ 209.6   Employers' notice of death of employees.
Each employer shall notify the Board immediately of the death of an employee who, prior to the employee's death, performed compensated service which has not been reported to the Board.
§ 209.7   Employers' supplemental reports of service.
Each employer shall furnish the Board a report of the current year service of each employee who ceases work for the purpose of retiring under the provisions of the Railroad Retirement Act.
§ 209.8   Employers' annual reports of creditable service and compensation.
Each year, on or before the last day of February, each employer is required to make an annual report of the creditable service and compensation (including a report that there is no compensation or service to report) of employees who performed compensated service in the preceding calendar year. The annual report shall include service and compensation previously furnished in supplemental reports and notices of death.
§ 209.9   Employers' adjustment reports.
(a) The Board may request employers to submit adjustments to correct employee accounts when:
(1) Errors are detected in processing employers' annual report;
(2) An employee shows that the amount of service or compensation reported by the employer to the employee's account was not correct; or
(3) An employee shows that he or she should have been credited with service and compensation for a period for which the employer reported no service and compensation.
(b) Employers may submit adjustment reports to:
(1) Correct service and compensation previously reported; and
(2) Report service and compensation that was omitted from a previous report.
(c) Employers submitting adjustment reports covering pay for time lost as an employee shall report this compensation as provided for in § 211.3 of this chapter. Adjustment reports may be submitted to the Board each month.
§ 209.10   Terminated employers' reports.
When an employer's status as an employer is terminated, a final report of creditable service and compensation shall be made. The final report shall be submitted to the Board on or before the last day of the month following the final month for which there was compensated service. The report shall be completed as prescribed in § 209.8(a) of this part and shall be marked Final Compensation Report.
§ 209.11   Employee representatives' reports.
An individual claiming status as an employee representative shall describe his or her duties as an employee representative on the form prescribed by the Board. The Board shall determine whether the individual claiming to be an employee representative meets the requirements for such a status. If the individual is determined to be an employee representative, he or she is required to make an annual report of creditable compensation as provided for in § 209.8 of this part. If an employee representative's status is terminated, the last report of service and compensation shall be marked Final Compensation Report.
§ 209.12   Certificates of service months and compensation.
(a) Each year the Board shall provide each employee who performed compensated service in the preceding calendar year a certificate of service months and compensation. This certificate is the employee's record of the service and compensation credited to his or her account at the Board. An employee who for any reason does not receive a certificate may obtain one from the nearest Board district office or may write the Board for one.
(b) By April 1 of each year each employer shall provide the Board the current address of each employee for whom it had reported compensation. This requirement shall not apply in the case of an employee for whom the employer had previously provided an address.
§ 209.13   Employers' gross earnings reports.
(a) Each employer is required to report the gross earnings of a one-percent sample group of railroad employees. The gross earnings sample is based on the earnings of employees whose social security numbers end with the digits 30. This report is used to determine:
(1) Tax and benefit amounts involved in the Financial Interchange with the Social Security Administration and the Health Care Financing Administration; and
(2) Estimated tax income accruing to the railroad retirement system in future periods.
(b) Employers shall submit reports annually for employees in the gross earnings sample. Such reports shall include the employee's gross annual earnings, which includes all compensation taxable under the hospital insurance portion of the tier I tax rate. Employers with 5,000 or more employees shall provide a monthly or quarterly breakdown of the year's earnings. Employers with fewer than 5,000 employees may submit an annual amount only, although a monthly or quarterly breakdown is preferable. Gross earnings are to be counted for the same time period as used in determining the employer's annual report of creditable compensation. The reports are to be prepared in accordance with prescribed instructions and filed in accordance with § 209.4 of this part.
§ 209.14   Report of separation allowances subject to tier II taxation.
For any employee who is paid a separation payment, the employer must file a report of the amount of the payment. This report shall be submitted to the Board on or before the last day of the month following the end of the calendar quarter in which payment is made. The report is to be prepared in accordance with prescribed instructions and filed in accordance with § 209.4 of this part.
§ 209.15   Compensation reportable when paid.
(a) General. In preparing a report required under this part, an employer may report compensation in the report required for the year in which the compensation was paid even though such compensation was earned by the employee in a previous year. If compensation is reported with respect to the year in which it was paid, it shall be credited by the Board to the employee in such year unless within the four year period provided in § 211.15 of this chapter the employee requests that such compensation be credited to the year in which it was earned. If the employee makes such a request, and the Board determines that the compensation should be credited to the year in which it was earned, the reporting employer must file an adjustment report as required by § 209.9 of this part which reports such compensation in the year in which it was earned. The employee may revoke his or her request anytime prior to the filing of the adjustment report. Upon the Board's receipt of the adjustment report, the request becomes irrevocable.
(b) Pay for time lost. Compensation which is pay for time lost, as provided in § 211.3 of this chapter, shall be reported with respect to the period in which the time and compensation were lost. For example, if an employee is off work because of an on-the-job injury for a period of months in a given year and in a later year receives a payment from his or her employer to compensate for wages lost during the period of absence, the employer must, by way of adjustment provided for in § 209.9 of this part, report the compensation with respect to the year in which the time and compensation were lost.
(c) Separation allowance or severance pay. A separation allowance or severance payment shall be reported in accordance with § 209.14 of this part.
(d) Miscellaneous pay. Miscellaneous pay, as defined in § 211.11 of this chapter, shall be reported in the year paid and reported on the annual report of compensation as provided for in § 209.8 of this part.
(e) Vacation pay. Vacation pay may be reported in accordance with this section except that any payments made in the year following the year in which the employee resigns or is discharged shall be reported by way of adjustment under § 209.9 of this part as paid in the year of resignation or discharge.
§ 209.16   Disposal of payroll records.
Employers may dispose of payroll records for periods subsequent to 1936, provided that the payroll records are more than five years old and that there is no dispute pending pertaining to the compensation reported for the period of those records.
§ 209.17   Use of payroll records as returns of compensation.
Payroll records of employers which have permanently ceased operations may be accepted in lieu of prescribed reports provided that there is no official of the employer available to prepare and certify to the accuracy of such reports and, provided further that any employer and employee tax liability incurred under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act has been discharged.