M e m o r a n d u m

U n i t e d S t a t e s G o v e r n m e n t FORM 0-1151 (1-M)

R a i l r o a d R e t i r e m e n t b o a r d

TO: Ronald J. Dammon 

Director of Field Service

OCT 241995 

L -95-29 *

FROM:

General Counsel

Catherine C . Cook f /

SUBJECT: Last Pre-Retirement Employment (LPE) - Stevedoring Work

This is in response to your memorandum dated August 24, 1995,

wherein you asked for a definitive legal ruling on how to determine 

who is the LPE employer under the following facts, as set out in a 

memorandum dated August 8, 1995 from the Houston, Texas district 

office:

There are four hiring halls in the Houston, Texas area 

and approximately 80 stevedoring companies. The 

individuals work for various stevedoring companies, 

working for one company one day and another company the 

next. The individuals are not employees of the 

International Longshoremen's Association Hiring Halls 

(ILA) . The individuals are not employees of the various 

ports, they are "employees of the individual stevedoring 

company which hires them for the particular day. The 

Westgulf Maritime Association maintains payroll records 

for all the stevedoring companies. The individuals are 

not employees of the Westgulf Maritime Association. The 

ILA receives a list of each company's requirements for 

stevedores. The individuals report to the hiring hall 

each morning and are told where to report for work. The 

individuals have no rights to return to work with any 

stevedoring company. When they work, a clerk at the 

stevedoring company turns the payroll records over to 

Westgulf for the issuance of checks and a W-2 at the end 

of the year.

According to the information provided, at all times the individuals 

are under the supervision and control of the particular stevedoring 

company for whom they are working on any particular day. The 

individuals have no rights to return to the employment of any 

stevedoring company.
r- , . 

I

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2

Ronald J. Dammon 

Director of Field Service

The Board's regulations, 20 CFR 216.22(b), define an individual's 

last non-railroad employer as follows:

***An individual's last non-railroad employer is:

(1) Any non-railroad employer from whom the 

individual last resigned (in point of time) in order 

to receive an annuity; and

(2) Any additional non-railroad employer from whom 

the individual resigned in order to have an annuity 

become payable. Employment which an individual stops 

within 6 months of the date on which the individual files 

for an annuity will be presumed in the absence of 

evidence to the contrary to be service from which the 

individual resigned in order to receive an annuity.

Of course, since the amendment to section 2(e) of the Act made by 

P.L. 100-647 (effective for annuities payable December 1, 1988 and 

later) there is no need for an individual to resign his position in 

order to receive an annuity. A person who is in LPE will lose up 

to 50% of his tier 2 annuity and 50% of his supplemental annuity. 

In light of the amendment made by P.L.100-647, the above - quoted 

regulation should, in my view, be read so as not to require a 

resignation.

Based on the wording of the above cited regulation, it is my 

opinion that any stevedoring company for whom the individual is 

employed within six months of his annuity beginning date is 

presumptively his last person service employer.

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