Rail Employer Reporting Instructions

Appendix I: Electronic File Format

 Form BA-3, Annual Report of Creditable Compensation

The information contained in this report, which is required by law under Section 9 of the 

Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) and Section 6 of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance 

Act (RUIA), is needed to pay RRA and RUIA benefits. The information is authorized for 

collection under OMB control number 3220-0008.

This report is due at the Railroad Retirement Board by no later than the last day of February 

following the report year. Failure to report or the making of a false or fraudulent report can 

result in criminal prosecution or civil penalties, or both.

We estimate the electronic versions of this form transmitted by a secure email or a File 

Transfer Protocol (FTP) takes an average of 46 hours and 15 minutes per response to 

complete, including time for reviewing the instructions, getting the needed data, and 

reviewing the completed form. Federal agencies may not conduct or sponsor, and 

respondents are not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a 

valid OMB number. If you wish, send comments regarding the accuracy of our estimate or 

any other aspect of this form, including suggestions for reducing completion time, to

Associate Chief Information Officer for Policy and Compliance

Railroad Retirement Board

844 North Rush Street

Chicago, IL 60611-1275.

This exhibit below explains the electronic file format for reports filed on CD-ROM, FTP 

(File Transfer Protocol) Interchange, secure e-mail, or an upload on ERSNet. For 

information about the data to be entered, refer to Part V, Chapter 3.

NOTE: Reports submitted on CD-ROM, secure email, or FTP must be accompanied by

Form G-440, "Report Specifications Sheet". 

Report Specifications

Record Length 300 Characters

Money Fields

All money fields include two cent positions and no decimal 

point. No fields should be signed. Fill out money fields with 

zeros.

Numeric Fields Fill out all numeric fields with zeros to the left of the 

significant digits.

Service and 

Compensation

There should be no record which contains neither service nor 

compensation data. A record may contain only service months 

or only compensation, but must contain one or the other. 

Totals Record

Every electronic file report should include a grand-totals 

record at the end. The specific format is in the appendix. 

Optional subtotal records may be included.
Rail Employer Reporting Instructions

Appendix I: Electronic File Format

 Form BA-3, Annual Report of Creditable Compensation

Form BA-3 Record Format

Field 

Length

Record 

Position Data and Instructions

1 1 "0" (zero).

4 2-5 Four-digit year being reported. 

1 6 "7"

4 7-10 Four-digit BA number assigned by the Railroad Retirement 

Board. 

10 11-20 

Entries in this field are optional. The “Payroll ID” reference 

number shown here will be included on certain correspondence 

to the employer to assist the employer in locating the employee.

9 21-29 Employee's social security number. 

20 30-49 

First twenty (20) characters of the employee's surname. Spaces 

in such names as Mc Carthy, St Clair, De La Cross are 

acceptable.

15 50-64 First fifteen (15) characters of the employee's first name. 

1 65 Employee’s middle initial.

7 66-72 

RUIA I ($$$$$¢¢) – Total compensation which is creditable 

under the RUIA to qualify for benefits. This amount should not 

exceed the RUIA I monthly maximum times 12. 

2 73-74 Blank Filler.

7 75-81 

RUIA II ($$$$$¢¢) – Total compensation which is creditable 

under the RUIA to determine maximum benefits. This amount 

should not exceed the RUIA II monthly maximum times 12. 

2 82-83 Blank Filler.

12 84-95 

84-Jan

85-Feb

86-March

87-April

88-May

89-June

90-July

91-Aug

92-Sept

93-Oct

94-Nov

95-Dec

Service Month Detail - The code corresponding to 

the employment relation for a non-work month. 

Code 1 = worked 

Code 8 = not worked but has employment relation

Code 9 = not worked & has no employment relation

Code 0 = not worked & employment relation 

unknown

NOTE: You cannot mix all four codes. You must 

either use codes 1, 8, & 9 or codes 1 & 0. All 12 

positions must be filled.

2 96-97 Service Month Total - The sum of the characters in positions 84-

95. Enter zeroes if no months are reported.

8 98-105 Creditable Tier I compensation, up to the annual maximum for 

the year ($$$$$$¢¢). 

2 106-107 Blank Filler.
Rail Employer Reporting Instructions

Appendix I: Electronic File Format

 Form BA-3, Annual Report of Creditable Compensation

Form BA-3 Record Format

Field 

Length

Record 

Position Data and Instructions

8 108-115 Creditable Tier II compensation, up to the annual maximum for 

the year ($$$$$$¢¢). 

2 116-117 Blank Filler.

5 118-122 Last daily pay rate ($$$¢¢). If pay rate exceeds $200.00, enter 

20000. 

2 123-124 Blank Filler.

8 125-132 Creditable Miscellaneous compensation ($$$$$$¢¢). 

2 133-134 Blank Filler. 

8 135-142 Creditable Sick Pay compensation ($$$$$$¢¢). 

3 143-145 Blank Filler. 

30 146-175 Mailing Address Line 1 (Street Number, Post Office Box, etc.).

30 176-205 Mailing Address Line 2.

20 206-225 City

2 226-227 State

5 228-232 Zip Code

8 233-240 Effective date of the address information (MMDDCCYY).

60 241-300 Blank Filler (For future expansion).

NOTE: The file should be saved as a text (*.txt) file with the record format listed above.