Rail Employer Reporting Instructions

Appendix I: Electronic File Format

 Form BA-4, Report of Creditable Compensation Adjustments

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 adjust compensation and service creditable under the RRA and 

RUIA. It is authorized for collection under OMB control number 3220-0008. 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 e-mail or a File 

Transfer Protocol (FTP) takes an average of 1 hour 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 format for reports filed on CD ROM, electronic files, or an 

upload on ERSNet. For information about the data to be entered, refer to Part V, Chapter 

4.

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

Form G-440, "Report Specifications Sheet". 

Report Specifications

Record Length 200 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-4, Report of Creditable Compensation Adjustments

Form BA-4 Record Format

Field 

Length

Record 

Position Data and Instructions

1 1 Blank

4 2-5 Four-digit year being reported. 

1 6 Code "4" for an increase adjustment.

Code "M" for a decrease adjustment.

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

Board. 

10 11-20 Blank Filler. 

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-August

92-Sept.

93-Oct.

94-Nov.

95-Dec.

Service Month Detail – All of the employment 

relation codes for non-worked months available on 

Form BA-3, Annual Report of Creditable 

Compensation, cannot be used on this adjustment 

report. Only use the following codes:

Code 1 = worked

Code 0 = not worked & employment relation 

unknown

NOTE: All 12 positions must be filled.
Rail Employer Reporting Instructions

Appendix I: Electronic File Format

 Form BA-4, Report of Creditable Compensation Adjustments

Form BA-4 Record Format

Field 

Length

Record 

Position Data and Instructions

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

95. Enter zeros 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.

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 ($$$$$$¢¢). 

58 143-200 Blank Filler (For future expansion).

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