Program 

Letter

United States Railroad 

Retirement Board

Office of Programs

Quality Reporting Service Center

e-mail: qrsc@rrb.gov

 Phone: (312) 751-4992

 Fax: (312) 751-7123

August 30, 2013

Letter No. 2013-05

TO: Certification Contact Officials

SUBJECT: Elimination of the Use of Paper Form BA-3, Annual Reports of Credible 

 Compensation

Please distribute this notice to all individuals within your organization who may need the 

information in connection with their work. 

The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) will eliminate the use of the paper Form BA-3, Annual 

Reports of Credible Compensation, by employers covered under the Railroad Retirement (RRA) and 

Railroad Unemployment Insurance (RUIA) Acts. The RRB will no longer accept the paper form

BA-3 beginning with the 2013 service and compensation reports that are due to the RRB no later 

than February 28, 2014. 

Annual service and compensation reports are to be filed through the Employer Reporting System

(ERSNet). ERSNet is much more reliable, secure, user friendly, and offers users benefits not 

available to employers using other filing methods. ERSNet provides automatic system edits to 

identify errors, pre-filled data fields, the ability to create detailed and summary reports, 

automated email form/file receipt responses and file upload capability. Also, if you use the 

ERSNet system, you do not need to file Form G-440, Report Specifications Sheet, because the 

system authenticates the report. 

We previously informed users that the RRB eliminated technical support for the obsolete Employer 

Reporting (PC) Program. We will not issue any new or replacement copies of the program, but we 

will continue to process the service and compensation reports the program generates.
Please note that the elimination of the use of the paper form does not affect employers that currently 

file reports via the other RRB approved automated processes. You can continue to file your reports 

using the following methods:

• CD-ROM 

• Secure E-mail 

• File Transfer Protocol (FTP) 

However, if you previously filed your reports on paper or via the PC Reporting Program, you should 

now begin using ERSNet to file your BA-3, annual reports.

The current services and forms available to users via ERSNet are as follows: 

BA-3, Annual Report of Creditable Compensation 

BA-4, Report of Creditable Compensation Adjustments

BA-6a, BA-6 Address Report

BA-11, Report of Gross Earnings 

GL-129a, Record of Employer Determination on Employee Protest

ID-4K, Prepayment Notice of Employee's Applications and Claims for Benefits under the 

Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA)

Form ID-4E, Notice of RUIA Claim Determinations

ID-6, Monthly Report of Tier I Tax Transactions 

ID-6Y, Summary Report of Tier I Yearly Tax Transactions

ID-40Q, Quarterly Notice to Employers - RUIA 

ID-40R/S, Annual Notice to Employers - RUIA

See Program Letter 2012-05 and 2012-08 http://www.rrb.gov/AandT/pl/pl_index.asp to learn about 

the available forms (and their capabilities), offered on the ERSNet system.

To apply for access to the ERSNet system, please do the following:

• Read the Security Guidelines leaflet. The leaflet explains your responsibilities as a user of 

the ERSNet system and is available at http://www.rrb.gov/AandT/ERI/Part8/chapter8.asp.

• File Form BA-12, Application for Employer Reporting Internet Access, a copy of which is 

attached. Complete Sections A, B, C and have the designated employee sign Item 5, Section 

B. The certification in Section D must be completed by an official of the company who has 

authority to sign official RRB forms. If you have signature authority, sign the certification. 

Otherwise, the company president and those persons designated on the Form G-117A, 

Designation of Contact Official, are assumed to have signature authority. For additional 

copies of Form BA-12 or information on how to complete it, go directly to 

http://www.rrb.gov/pdf/AandT/ba12.pdf. All employer forms can be accessed on the RRB 

website at www.rrb.gov.
Within three to five days of receipt of an acceptable application, the RRB will mail your user ID and 

password along with instructions for accessing the site. To deter fraudulent use of ERSNet, the Form 

BA-12 cannot be completed or filed on our website as original signatures (no reproductions) are 

needed. The completed Form BA-12 must be transmitted by US or express mail carrier. For security 

reasons, facsimiles are not acceptable.

For more information about applying for access and using ERS.net, please access Part VIII 

“Employer Reporting System (ERS) Internet User Instructions” located in the Employer 

Reporting Instructions or Labor Employer Reporting Instructions. You may also contact 

the Quality Reporting Service Center (QRSC) at the telephone number and e-mail address shown 

above.

Attachment: Form BA-12, Application for Employer Reporting Internet Access