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 XLI January 2015 

Annual Reports 

The deadline for filing your 2014 Form BA-3, 

Annual Report of Creditable Compensation and 

BA-11, Report of Gross Earnings is February 28, 

2015. Form BA-6a, Address Report is due by April 

1, 2015. If you do not use the Employer Reporting 

System (ERSNet), and are submitting your reports 

through an alternative automated process, you 

must complete a Form G440, "Report 

Specifications Sheet" with these (and all other) 

reports submitted to the Railroad Retirement Board 

(RRB). Employers who do not have creditable 

service and compensation to report for 2014; or 

who have no employees with social security 

numbers ending with the digits "30" to report on the 

BA-11 must also file an electronic “No Employee” 

for either or both reports to advise the RRB. 

Note – The format of Form BA-3, Annual Report 

was re-designed to include the employee address 

information so employers can combine everything 

on one report. If you report new employee 

addresses or employee address changes on the 

Form BA-3, you do not need to submit a separate 

Form BA-6a, Address Report. 

Elimination of Paper Forms BA-4, BA-6a & 

BA-11 

As previously announced, the RRB has eliminated 

the use of the paper Forms BA-4, Report of 

Creditable Compensation Adjustment, BA-6a, 

Address Report and BA-11, Report of Gross 

Earnings effective January 1, 2015. Paper filers 

should now use the Employer Reporting System 

(ERSNet) to file those reports. ERSNet is the 

preferred method because it provides 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. 

For more information about this change, please see 

Program Letter 2014-05, “Elimination of the Use of 

Paper Forms: BA-4, Report of Creditable 

Compensation Adjustment, BA-6a, Address Report & 

BA-11, Report of Gross Earnings”. The online version 

can be found on our website at 

http://www.rrb.gov/AandT/pl/pl1405.asp . 

Customer Service Survey 

The RRB will participate in a new American 

Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) survey which 

will target covered employers to determine your 

level of satisfaction with the services we provide. 

We will survey you on your contact with Field 

Service; the RRB website; the ERSNet system; and 

our Quality Reporting customer service group to 

determine the usefulness of the information and 

assistance that each area provides. The survey 

questionnaire will be released electronically so you 

will have the opportunity to respond at your 

convenience rather than be occupied on the 

telephone. Based on your feedback, the ACSI 

helps the RRB identify methods and processes that 

will help us deliver quality service, so please be 

sure to give us your feedback and look for it in 

April 2015! 

Creditable Sick Pay Compensation 

Creditable Sick Pay is compensation paid under a 

plan or agreement available on the same basis to 

employees in a like class and payable for days not 

worked on account of injury, illness, pregnancy, or 

childbirth. The term “Creditable Sick Pay” refers to 

an RRB-approved Supplemental Sick Pay Plan 

such that these sickness benefit payments are: 

limited to Tier I tax; creditable as Tier I 

compensation only; does not yield service months; 

is not creditable as Tier II compensation; and is not 

creditable as compensation under the Railroad 

Unemployment Insurance Act. 

So, if you are making sickness payments to your 

employees through a plan that is not approved by 

the RRB it is creditable as regular compensation 

and should be reported as Tier I, Tier II and RUIA 

compensation on your annual reports. To have a 

plan approval determination, submit the plan to: 

Railroad Retirement Board, Director of Policy & 

Systems, 844 N. Rush Chicago IL, 60611. If you 

have questions, contact a QRSC Specialist. 
 

 

Reminder: RUIA Deposits 

Please remember to use your new 2015 

contribution rates when calculating your RUIA 

deposits. We notified you of your rates on Forms 

ID-40R/S which were sent out to all employers in 

October 2014. The maximum earnings subject to 

RUIA contribution for 2015 is $1,455 per month. If 

you did not receive the notification please contact 

us at the number or e-mail above. 

Return to Railroad Service 

Annuitants who return to work for employers 

covered under the Railroad Retirement Act are not 

entitled to retirement annuities from the RRB. If 

you are incorrectly crediting former employees with 

service for any payment not associated with actual 

work or a negotiated agreement, you may be 

subjecting them to overpayments. Compensation 

can be credited to an employee’s account when 

paid, regardless of when the employee retires or 

resigns. However, service months must be credited 

when the service is performed. No additional 

service months can be credited after the employee 

stops working and relinquishes his/her rights to 

work for your company. If service is reported for a 

former employee after his /her retirement annuity 

began you will receive a Form GL-132, “Notice of 

Service After Annuity Beginning Date”. 

RRB Employment Services 

There are three basic employment services 

operated by the RRB: 1) the Central Register, 2) 

the Job Vacancy Listing, and 3) the RRB online 

listing of available railroad jobs with links to 

employer employment websites. 

For an explanation of each employment service as 

well as how these services can benefit you as an 

employer, see Program Letter UI-C-214 at 

http://www.rrb.gov/AandT/pl/uic214.asp. 

Deemed Service Optional Codes 

In order to eliminate Forms GL-99, Employer’s 

Deemed Service Months Questionnaire being sent 

to your company for manual handling, you have the 

option of reporting the employment relationship on 

Form BA-3, by using these service month codes: 

8 = Employee did not work but has an 

employment relationship 

9 = Employee did not work and has no 

employment relationship 

Use of these codes will eliminate Forms GL-99, 

being released to employers because the RRB will 

already have the information. See the Employer & 

Labor Reporting Instructions for Form BA-3 on the 

proper reporting of these codes. 

2015 U.S. RRB Tax Rates and Compensation 

Bases 

Component Tax Rate Earnings

Base 

Employee Tier I 6.20% $118,500 

Employee Medicare 1.45% No limit 

Employer Tier I 6.20% $118,500 

Employer Medicare 1.45% No limit 

Employee Tier II 4.9% $88,200 

Employer Tier II 13.1% $88,200 

Employer 

Unemployment (RUIA) Variable 

$1,455.00 

per month 

Employer 

Unemployment (RUIA) 

Maximum 

None 

$1,879.00 

per month 

SAVE THE DATE (Summer 2015) 

Ninth National Rail Employer Training Seminar - Chicago, IL 

Quality Reporting Service Center 

U.S. Railroad Retirement Board 

844 North Rush Street 

Chicago, IL 60611-2092 

Third Class