Employer Exchange 

Quality Reporting Service Center (312) 751-4992 

Fax (312) 751-7123 

E-mail: QRSC@RRB.GOV 

Experience Rating Specialists (312) 751-4550 

RRB Web Site: HTTP://www.rrb.gov 

Issue XXXIX October 2013 

New Services Available Via the ERSNet 

System --- Sign-Up Now!! 

The Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) continues to 

add new forms to the Employer Reporting System 

(ERSNet). Available now on the ERSNet system 

are the Forms G-88A.1, Request for Verification of 

Last Date Carried on Payroll and G-88A.2, Notice 

of Retirement and Request for Service Needed for 

Eligibility. Based on retirement applications filed by 

employees, the G-88A.1 is sent to verify the 

employee’s date last worked while the G-88A.2 is 

released to determine benefit eligibility. Currently 

employers reply to these inquiries either via fax or 

mail. Prompt and accurate reply to these forms 

from employers ensures proper payment of benefits 

to employees. We urge all employers who currently 

receive these forms via paper to sign-up for these 

services. It’s fast, simple, accurate and efficient. 

To sign-up for these new services download the 

latest Form BA-12, Application for Employer 

Reporting Internet Access from www.rrb.gov. A link 

to that form is attached 

http://www.rrb.gov/pdf/AandT/ba12.pdf. 

Elimination of PAPER Form BA-3 

The RRB will eliminate the use of the paper Form 

BA-3, “Annual Report of Credible Compensation”, 

beginning with the 2013 service and compensation 

reports that are due to the RRB no later than 

February 28, 2014. 

Paper filers should now use the Employer 

Reporting System (ERSNet) to file the annual BA-3 

report. ERSNet offers users benefits not available 

to employers using other filing methods including 

automatic system edits to identify errors, pre-filled 

data fields, the ability to create summary reports, 

automated email form/file receipt responses and file 

upload capability. If you use the ERSNet system, 

you do not need to file Form G-440 because the 

system authenticates the report. Note - We 

previously expanded the BA-3 to allow address 

information to be included on this report. Including 

addresses on the BA-3 report allows you to 

combine the information on one report and 

eliminates the need to file a separate BA-6a, 

Address Report. 

For more information about this change, please see 

Program Letter 2013-05, “Elimination of the Use of 

Paper Form BA-3, Annual Report of Creditable 

Compensation” on our website at 

http://www.rrb.gov/AandT/pl/pl1305.asp 

No Surcharge in RUIA Contribution Rate 

For 2014 

The RUIA Experience Rating System provides for 

the addition of a surcharge to the RUIA contribution 

rate if the accrual balance in the RUI Account falls 

below certain levels as of June 30 of each year. On 

June 30, 2013, that account had an accrual 

balance of $204.2 million. The current thresholds 

are $144.8 million for the 1.5 percent surcharge 

and $72.4 million for the 2.5 percent surcharge. 

Since the RUI Account balance is greater than the 

indexed amount for $100 million there will be no 

surcharge for calendar year 2014. 

Form ID-40R/S Released 

In early October, we released Form ID-40R/S, 

“Annual Notice under the RUIA”. The Form ID40R/S notifies employers of their Railroad 

Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA) contribution 

rate to be used during the period of January 1 

through December 31, 2014. If you have not 

received the form by late October, please contact 

the Quality Reporting Service Center at the 

telephone number or email address shown above. 

This notice is also available on the ERSNet system. 

Online RRB Services for UI Benefits 

In order to obtain benefits as quickly as possible, 

claimants should file their applications for 

unemployment (UI) benefits, as well as their 

subsequent biweekly UI and sickness claims, 

online. We ask that you encourage your employees 

to establish an online account while still employed 
 

 

so an account is ready if they ever need to apply for 

benefits or use other Internet services. 

To establish an RRB Internet Service account, go 

to the RRB's website at www.rrb.gov and click on 

the "Benefit Online Services” link and follow the 

directions. Establishing an online account will 

minimize the possibility for delay in the event an 

employee files for unemployment or sickness 

benefits. 

Optional Service Month Codes 

The RRB releases Forms GL-99, “Employer’s 

Deemed Service Months Questionnaire”, to 

employers seeking information about employment 

relationships. To eliminate our need to request the 

information, employers can provide it by using 

optional service month codes on their Form BA-3, 

“Annual Report of Creditable Compensation”, to 

report employment relation information in nonworked months. The optional service month codes 

to be used including “0” are as follows: 

1 = worked 

8 = not worked but has employment relation 

9 = not worked and has no employment relation 

0 = not worked and employment relation is 

unknown 

Please refer to the Part V, Chapter 3 of the 

Employer Reporting Instructions for additional 

information on how to use the codes. 

Annuity Estimates 

The RRB Annuity EStimate OPeration (AESOP) 

was released earlier this month. AESOP provides 

annuity estimates for all of the eligible employees 

for railroad employers and their subsidiaries. 

This type of information can be very helpful with 

retirement planning. If you do not currently receive 

AESOP for your organization and you want to 

receive it in the coming years, contact QRSC at the 

number or e-mail address listed above. 

RRB Job Placement Service 

The RRB operates a free job placement service 

with the primary purpose of helping experienced 

railroad workers find new employment. We 

encourage employers who have no web site to 

send their current job vacancies to the nearest RRB 

office for listing on the RRB website. Employers 

that have a website with a job vacancy listing 

should consider establishing a link with the RRB 

site. 

The RRB also maintains a Central Register listing 

of experienced railroad workers by craft. Contact 

your nearest RRB Field Office at 1-877-772-5772 

for a list. 

RRBVision Training Videos 

The RRB's Quality Reporting Service Center has a 

series of training videos to enhance your reporting 

knowledge in our video library called RRBVision. 

The video topics address numerous issues 

including: basic information for new employers and 

Secretary-Treasurers: creditable compensation and 

service months; vacation pay; and pay-for-time-lost. 

These as well as others can be found on the RRB’s 

website at 

http://www.rrb.gov/rrbvision/employers.asp. Next 

click on the name of the video you want to view. If 

you have video topic suggestions, please call or email QRSC with you suggestion. 

Quality Reporting Service Center 

U.S. Railroad Retirement Board 

844 North Rush Street 

Chicago, IL 60611-2092 

Third Class