Rail Employer Reporting Instructions

Appendix VI: Service and Compensation Referrals to Employers

Service And Compensation Referrals To Employers

Alphabetical Order by Referral Message

Adjustment Beyond Statute Of 

Limitations S&C Rejected

This referral is produced when an adjustment is for a 

year that is more than four years before the current 

year. By law, employers are required to keep records 

for only the last four years. Employers have four 

years from the date of the annual report to make any 

corrections to that report. For more information 

about the time frame for filing adjustments, see Part 

VII, Chapter 2 of the Reporting Instructions for Rail 

Employers. You may also call the supervisor of the 

Wage Accounting section at (312) 751-3371 to 

discuss the adjustment.

Adjustment Caused RUIA To 

Become Incompatible To Tier I/Tier 

II

S&C Posted 

This referral is produced if, after the adjustment, 

there is one or no service months and the reported 

Tier I compensation is less than the monthly RUIA 

maximum but the reported RUIA compensation does 

not equal the reported Tier I compensation. Prepare 

Form BA-4 to increase RUIA compensation to the 

amount of the Tier I compensation.

Adjustment Caused Tier II To 

Become Greater Than Tier I

S&C Posted 

This referral is produced when the adjustment results 

in the Tier II compensation being greater than the 

Tier I compensation. For more information about the 

relationship between Tier I and Tier II compensation 

see, "Understanding Edit Checks of Tier I and Tier II 

Compensation" at the end of this chapter. Determine 

the correct compensation and prepare Form BA-4 to 

either increase Tier I or decrease Tier II accordingly.

Adjustment Caused Under Reported 

Tier II

S&C Posted

This referral occurs when the adjustment causes the 

resulting Tier II compensation to be less than the Tier 

I compensation and Tier I is less than the Tier II 

annual maximum. For more information about the 

relationship between Tier I and Tier II compensation 

see, "Understanding Edit Checks of Tier I and Tier II 

Compensation" at the end of this chapter. Determine 

the correct compensation and prepare Form BA-4 to 

either increase Tier I or decrease Tier II accordingly.

Adjustment Results In Invalid 

Service Month Count For Year

S&C Rejected

This referral is produced when an adjustment causes 

the total service months to differ from the detail 

service months reported. For example, there are 4 

total service months but January, February, March, 

April and May are reported on the service 
Rail Employer Reporting Instructions

Appendix VI: Service and Compensation Referrals to Employers

detail. First determine what service months should 

be reported. Then make an adjustment so that the 

total service months and the service month detail 

match.

Adjustment Results In Invalid Tier I 

Amount For Year

S&C Rejected

This referral occurs when the adjustment decreases 

Tier I to zero but Tier II is greater than 

zero. Determine the correct compensation and 

prepare Form BA-4 to either increase Tier I or 

decrease Tier II accordingly.

Adjustment Results In Invalid Tier II 

Amount For Year

S&C Rejected

This referral is produced when the adjustment 

decreases Tier II to zero but Tier I is greater than 

zero. Determine the correct compensation and 

prepare Form BA-4 to either increase Tier II or 

decrease Tier I accordingly.

Adjustment Results In Negative 

Service Months Count For Year

S&C Rejected

All the referrals beginning "Adjustment results in 

negative." are produced when an adjustment 

decreases service and/or compensation by an amount 

greater than the amount currently on record at the 

RRB. This may occur if the adjustment was sent in 

for an incorrect year or if the employer's record of 

service and compensation for this employee prior to 

the adjustment does not agree with the RRB 

record. If the employer and RRB records do not 

agree, it is advisable to determine the cause, but if 

that is not possible, an adjustment bringing the 

employee's record to the correct totals can still be 

filed. Determine what the correct service and 

compensation should be and, using the information 

shown on the referral, create an adjustment to yield 

that result. Remember to also prepare an adjustment 

to offset the previous adjustment that rejected.

Adjustment Results In Negative 

Total RUIA

S&C Rejected

Adjustment Results In Negative 

Total Tier I

S&C Rejected

Adjustment Results In Negative 

Total Tier II

S&C Rejected

Adjustment Results In Negative 

Total Miscellaneous Compensation

S&C Rejected

Adjusted Tier II Total Is Over The 

Yearly Maximum

S&C Posted 

This referral is produced if the Tier II from the BA-4 

is greater than the annual Tier II maximum for the 

year. This may occur if the employer was using the 

wrong Tier II maximum or if two digits were 

reversed of if the decimal was in the wrong 

place. Determine the correct Tier II compensation 

and prepare Form BA-4 to decrease the reported Tier 

II accordingly.

Daily Pay Less Than Federal 

Minimum

Generally, this referral is informational only to 

advise you that pay rates need to be included in your 
Rail Employer Reporting Instructions

Appendix VI: Service and Compensation Referrals to Employers

next annual report. The daily pay rate is used in 

determining the employee's benefit rate under the 

RUIA Act. The daily pay rate you submitted is less

than the Federal Minimum, please review.

Decrease Adjustment With No 

Previous Activity

S&C Rejected

This referral is produced if a decrease adjustment is 

received and the employer did not file an initial 

service and compensation report for that employee 

for that year. This most commonly occurs when an 

employee previously worked for a related railroad 

and the current railroad does not file the adjustment 

under the correct BA number. This may also occur if 

the SSN or the year on the adjustment is in error or if 

the adjustment should have been an 

increase. Determine the correct SSN for the 

employee and the correct year, employer number, 

and type of adjustment. Prepare Form BA-4 with a 

two-line adjustment. The first line should remove the 

original report. Since the original report was a 

decrease adjustment, remove it with an identical 

increase adjustment. The second line will report the 

adjustment correcting the erroneous data. 

Duplicate Service Months ReportedS&C Rejected

S&C Rejected

This referral is produced if an increase adjustment 

includes service months that are already 

reported. This usually occurs when the 

compensation for a month is being increased and the 

service month is also included in the adjustment even 

though it was already reported. Prepare Form BA-4 

with a two-line adjustment. The first line is to 

decrease or remove the previous adjustment. The 

second line is to create the correct adjustment 

without the duplicate service month.

Incompatible RUIA

S&C Posted

This referral is produced if there is one or no service 

months and the Tier I compensation is less than the 

monthly RUIA compensation but the RUIA 

compensation does not equal the Tier I 

compensation. If compensation for a year is paid in a 

single month, it is expected that all three 

compensation amounts would be equal. If Tier 

compensation is being reported on a paid basis but 

RUIA compensation is being reported on an earned 

basis and this accounts for the differences, explain 

this on the referral. Otherwise... Prepare Form BA-
Rail Employer Reporting Instructions

Appendix VI: Service and Compensation Referrals to Employers

4 to increase RUIA compensation to the amount of 

the Tier I compensation.

Invalid Service Month Count This referral is produced if the total service months 

from the BA-4 is greater than or less than the sum of 

the individual months. Prepare a BA-4 to adjust the 

service months accordingly.

Invalid Service Month Indicator This referral is produced if an increase adjustment 

includes service months that are already 

reported. This usually occurs when the 

compensation for a month is being increased and the 

service month(s) are also included in the adjustment, 

even though they were previously reported. Prepare 

a BA-4 with a two-line adjustment. The first line is 

to decrease or remove the previous adjustment. The 

second line is to create the correct adjustment 

without the invalid service month.

Miscellaneous Compensation After 

Date of Death

This referral is produced if Miscellaneous 

Compensation (MC) is reported for a year after the 

employee's year of death or after the employee died 

but in the same year as the date of death. If the 

payment made to an employee's estate in the year 

after the year of death, remove the MC and take a tax 

credit for the MC, since payments made after the 

calendar year of death are not subject to railroad 

retirement taxes. Pay the employee share of the tax 

withheld to the estate. If payment was made after 

the employee died but in the same year as the date of 

death, tax a tax credit on the next Form DC-1, 

Employer's Quarterly Report of Contributions under 

the RUIA, if unemployment insurance contributions 

were made after the employee's date of 

death. Railroad Retirement taxes for Tier I and Tier 

II are due for payments made before the close of the 

calendar year in which the employee died.

Miscellaneous Compensation 

Adjustment Makes Tier 2 Greater 

than the Maximum

This referral is produced if the Tier II from the 

annual report is greater than the Tier II annual 

maximum for the year. This may occur if the 

employer was using the wrong Tier II maximum, if 

two of the digits were reversed, or if the decimal was 

in the wrong place. Determine the correct Tier II 

compensation and prepare a Form BA-4 to decrease 

the reported Tier II accordingly.
Rail Employer Reporting Instructions

Appendix VI: Service and Compensation Referrals to Employers

Miscellaneous Compensation Is 

Over The Tier I Maximum

This referral is produced if the Miscellaneous 

Compensation is reported in an amount that exceeds 

the Tier I annual maximum for the year. Please see 

the table of the last Tier I maximum reported. This 

referral may result because a decimal was in the 

wrong place or two digits have been 

inverted. Determine the correct amount of 

Miscellaneous Compensation for the year. Prepare a 

BA-4 to reduce the Miscellaneous Compensation in 

RRB records accordingly. Your employer records 

may or may not contain the same error.

Name Does Not Match RRB 

Records

S&C Rejected

This referral is produced if the name and social 

security number (SSN) from the employer's report do 

not agree with the name and social security number 

established in RRB records. This referral could 

occur because the employer changed the employee's 

name in their records but did not notify the 

RRB. This referral could also occur if the SSN was 

shown incorrectly in the employer report and 

happened to match an existing SSN for a different 

employee. If the referral occurred because you 

neglected to notify the RRB of an employee name 

change, put the correct name and SSN on the referral 

and return it to the RRB. If this referral occurred 

because the SSN was correct on your report, prepare 

Form BA-4 with a two-line adjustment. The first line 

will decrease or remove the original report under the 

incorrect SSN. The second line will create an 

increase adjustment under the correct SSN.

Name Is Missing

S&C Rejected

This literally means that you forgot to enter the 

employee's name on the report. We will not process 

a report without a name because the name is an 

important part of our verification process. Without 

the name verification, all reports with incorrect SSNs 

would be posted to the incorrect record. Missing 

names rarely occur, but occasionally a magnetic 

report will have missing data. Names can be shown 

right on the referral. Do not file an adjustment report 

to include or correct a name. 

Name Misspelled

S&C Posted

This referral is produced if the name from the report 

matches the name in the RRB record except for one 

or two letters. This would indicate that either the 

employer or the RRB has misspelled the employee's 
Rail Employer Reporting Instructions

Appendix VI: Service and Compensation Referrals to Employers

name. If the RRB record is correct, no action is 

necessary except to ensure that any subsequent 

reports use the correct spelling of the name. If the 

RRB name is misspelled, please indicate the correct 

spelling on the referral and return to the RRB.

Pay rate Is Missing

S&C Posted

Generally, this referral is informational only advising 

that pay rates need to be included in your next annual 

report. Missing pay rates delay the payment of 

unemployment and sickness benefits while the 

information is obtained from the employer. When 

missing pay rates become a serious problem to the 

payment of timely benefits, the RRB may require 

supplemental reports of pay rates from all employers 

who failed to include them on their annual reports.

Reported RUIA Is Over The 

Maximum

S&C Posted

This referral is produced if the RUIA compensation 

from the annual report exceeds 12 times the monthly 

RUIA maximum. Determine the correct RUIA 

compensation and prepare Form BA-4 to decrease 

the reported RUIA accordingly.

Reported Tier I Is Over The 

Maximum

S&C Posted

This referral is produced if the Tier I or Tier II from 

the annual report is greater than the Tier I or Tier II 

annual maximums for the year. This may occur if the 

employer was using the wrong Tier I or Tier II 

maximums or if two of the digits were reversed or if 

the decimal was in the wrong place. Determine the 

correct Tier I or Tier II compensation and prepare 

Form BA-4 to decrease the reported Tier I or Tier II 

accordingly.

Reported Tier II Is Greater Than The 

Yearly Maximum

S&C Posted

RUIA Missing. Not Local Lodge Or 

Productivity Fund

This referral is produced if there is one or more 

service months and; 1.) the Tier I compensation is 

less than the monthly RUIA compensation, but the 

RUIA compensation does not equal the tier I 

compensation; or 2.) the reported RUIA is 

zero. Prepare a BA-4 to increase RUIA 

compensation to the amount of the Tier I 

compensation.

Service And Compensation After 

Date Of Death

S&C Posted

This referral is produced if the employer reports a 

service month on the annual report that is after the 

month of death in the RRB record. This could occur 

if the employer erroneously reported service when 

service was not creditable or if the RRB received an 

erroneous notice of death. Determine if the 
Rail Employer Reporting Instructions

Appendix VI: Service and Compensation Referrals to Employers

employee is due service for the months referred. If 

not, prepare Form BA-4 to remove the erroneous 

months. If the employee actually worked in the 

months or otherwise earned the service, note this on 

the referral and return it to the RRB.

Sick Pay After Date Of Death

Sick Pay Posted

This referral is produced if sick pay is reported for a 

year after the employee's year of death. Payments 

made to an employee's estate or survivor in the year 

following the employee's death are not creditable or 

taxable. This includes regular compensation as well 

as sick pay compensation. Prepare Form BA-4 to 

remove the sick pay reported for any years after the 

year of death.

Sick Pay Is Over Tier I Maximum

Sick Pay Posted

This referral is produced if sick pay is reported in an 

amount that exceeds the Tier I annual maximum for 

the year. This referral usually results because a 

decimal is in the wrong place or two digits have been 

inverted. Determine the correct amount of sick pay 

for the year. Prepare Form BA-4 to reduce sick pay 

compensation in RRB records accordingly. Your 

employer records may or may not contain the same 

error.

Tier I Is Missing

S&C Rejected

This referral is produced if the Tier I compensation 

on an annual report is zero but the Tier II 

compensation is greater than zero. If Tier I 

compensation is correctly reported as zero, then the 

Tier II compensation should also be zero. If Tier II 

compensation is greater than zero, then Tier I 

compensation should be greater than 

zero. Determine whether Tier I is under-reported or 

Tier II is over-reported and prepare Form BA-4 to 

adjust compensation accordingly.

Tier II Is Greater Than Tier I

S&C Posted

This referral is produced if Tier II compensation on 

an annual report is greater than Tier I 

compensation. If credited correctly, Tier II will be 

either less than or equal to Tier I 

compensation. Determine whether Tier I is underreported or Tier II is over-reported and prepare Form 

BA-4 to adjust compensation accordingly.

Tier II Is Missing

S&C Rejected

This referral is produced if the Tier II compensation 

on an annual report Is zero but the Tier I 

compensation is greater than zero. If Tier II 
Rail Employer Reporting Instructions

Appendix VI: Service and Compensation Referrals to Employers

compensation is correctly reported as zero, then the 

Tier I compensation should also be zero. If Tier I 

compensation is greater than zero, then Tier II 

compensation should be greater than 

zero. Determine whether Tier II is under-reported or 

Tier I is over-reported and prepare Form BA-4 to 

adjust compensation accordingly.

Tier II May Be Under-Reported

S&C Posted

This referral is produced if the Tier II compensation 

on an annual report is less than the Tier I 

compensation and Tier I is less than the Tier II 

maximum compensation. Determine whether Tier I 

is under-reported or Tier II is over-reported and 

prepare Form BA-4 to adjust compensation 

accordingly.

Total Service Months Greater Than 

Detail

S&C Rejected

This referral is produced if the total service months 

from the annual report is greater than the sum of the 

individual months. Determine if the total is 

incorrect or if an additional month(s) should be 

reported. Prepare a Form BA-4 to adjust service 

months accordingly.