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301 Provisions of the Regulation 

See Part 320 of the Railroad Retirement Board's Regulations.

302 Determinations by Adjudicating Office

The Railroad Retirement Board's regulations provide that each claim for benefits 

under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act will be adjudicated and an initial 

determination with respect to the claim made by an adjudicating office. 

"Adjudicating office" is defined as any subordinate unit of the Railroad Retirement 

Board that may be authorized to make initial determinations and reconsideration 

decisions. Offices that have been authorized to make initial determinations and 

are therefore adjudicating offices include district offices, Field Service (FS) and 

the Sickness and Unemployment Benefits Section (SUBS) in Operations. The 

extent to which these offices may make determinations is stated in various 

articles of the AIM and is summarized below.

303 Authority to Make Determinations

303.01 Office of Programs – Policy and Systems (P&S)

Policy and Systems (P&S) in the Office of Programs formulates and publishes 

adjudication policy in the form of adjudication instructions and opinions. Each 

adjudicating office making determinations on claims under the Railroad 

Unemployment Insurance Act is to be guided by the adjudication instructions 

contained in the Adjudication Instruction Manual (AIM) and the opinions of P&S.

Although P&S is authorized to make determinations on all issues, the Director of 

Policy and Systems will normally make initial determinations only on the following 

issues:

1. Whether a strike or work stoppage against a railroad employer is a “legal” 

strike, and;

2. Whether a plan submitted by an employer or company qualifies as a 

nongovernmental plan for employment or sickness. 

303.02 District Office

District offices are authorized to make determinations as to:

1. Availability for work

2. Voluntary leaving of work

3. Failure to accept or apply for work or report to an employment office
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4. Timely registration for unemployment benefits and timely filing of sickness 

claims

5. Receipt of remuneration on claimed days of unemployment or sickness

6. Work restrictions and regular assignments

7. Whether a claimant’s unemployment is due to a strike

The authority to make determinations on timely registration for unemployment 

benefits, timely filing of sickness claims, receipt of remuneration, and work 

restrictions is limited to certain types of cases or situations specified in 

DPOM/FOM-II.

303.03 Field Service (FS)

FS is authorized to make determinations on the issues listed in subsection .02 

above but will ordinarily exercise such authority only in the course of reviewing 

cases received from district offices. In addition, FS is authorized to make 

determinations, in circumstances specified in the AIM or DPOM/FOM-II, as to:

1. Fraud

2. Erroneous payments

3. Whether a strike against a non-railroad employer is a “legal” strike

4. Determinations under sections 2(f) and 12(o)

303.04 Operations – Sickness and Unemployment Benefits Section (SUBS)

The Sickness and Unemployment Benefits Section (SUBS) is authorized to make 

determinations on all issues. SUBS will not ordinarily exercise that authority in 

the types of cases or circumstances in which district offices, FS, or P&S are 

authorized to make determinations.

303.05 Reconsideration Section - Program Evaluation and Management 

Services

The Reconsideration Section in Program Evaluation and Management Services

is authorized to make determinations on all issues, but will only exercise such 

authority in the course of processing requests for reconsideration of decisions 

made by district offices, FS and SUBS. See AIM-29, Protests and Appeals.
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303.06 Debt Recovery Section – Bureau of Fiscal Operations

The Debt Recovery Section in the Bureau of Fiscal Operations is authorized to 

make determinations on requests for waiver of recovery of debts under the RUIA. 

See AIM-29, Protests and Appeals.

304 District Office Request for Advice

A district office needing advice on the determination to be made in a particular 

case should submit the question to a FS network manager. The submission may 

be made by memorandum, e-mail, or telephone.

305 Network Managers Request for Advice 

A network manager needing advice as to the determination to be made in a 

particular case by a district office should submit the question to P&S through FS. 

The submission should ordinarily be on Form UI-51, Brief of Case and Request 

for Opinion. A copy of Form UI-51 should be kept by FS. The network manager

should complete items 1 through 7. Item 7 should also include a statement of the 

question submitted for determination or a statement of the district office 

determination that is submitted for review.

Complete Form UI-51 online using RRAILS. E-mail the completed form as an 

attachment to the P&S Inquiry mailbox. The request will be assigned to the 

proper section in P&S for reply.

306 SUBS Request for Advice

Form UI-51, Brief of Case and Request for Opinion, should be used by the 

Sickness and Unemployment Benefits Section for submitting questions to P&S. 

The question, to which an answer is required, should be stated in item 7. 

Complete the form online using RRAILS and either e-mail the request to the P&S 

Inquiry mailbox or forward a copy of the form to P&S. Any relevant material 

should be referenced on the request as being available on the imaging system, 

or attached to the form.

307 Action Upon Receipt of Opinion

Upon receipt of an opinion from P&S on Form UI-51 the adjudicating office is to 

adjudicate the claims in question in accordance with the opinion.