Railroad Retirement Board Benefits
2010 Benefit Rate Increase for Railroad Unemployment and Sickness Benefits The maximum daily benefit rate payable for claims under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act increases to $66 from $64 in the new benefit year, which begins July 1, 2010. Benefits are normally paid for the number of days of unemployment or sickness over four in 14-day registration periods, so maximum benefits for biweekly claims will total $660. Read More...
July 7, 2010 The Labor Member from the Railroad Retirement Board writes to BMWED President Simpson, announcing his personal retirement. Read Letter...
April 12, 2010 The Railroad Retirement System: Its First Seventy-Five Years. The 75th anniversary of the enactment of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935 is being observed during 2010. Part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal legislation, the Act was signed into law on August 29, 1935. Read More...
March 15, 2010 Correspondence dated March 15, 2010, from Railroad Retirement Board Labor Member Butch Speakman to BMWED President Simpson, wherein he provides the estimated financial impact of Brother Friend’s proposed changes to the Railroad Retirement Act on the Trust Fund. In a nutshell, the retirement age ain't getting lowered.
December 15, 2009 Correspondence from the General Counsel's office of the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) concerning retirement credits for vacation pay of workers in furlough status. The National Agreement provides furloughed workers the ability to take vacation in one day increments. The RRB states "it is permissible for employees on furlough to decline to take an actual vacation and instead, choose to take vacation pay in one-day increments in different months in order to obtain additional months of credited service." For any questions please contact your RRB District Office.
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RRB implementing new toll-free phone service
CHICAGO - The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) announced that it will begin phasing in nationwide toll-free telephone service starting in late November 2008.
A single toll-free number (1-877-772-5772/1-877-RRB-5RRB) will provide RRB customers with easy access to the agency’s field offices.
In addition, the new toll-free number will offer options for self-service through automated menus and automatic routing of calls to claims representatives in nearby offices during emergency and peak periods.
Twelve of the RRB’s 53 field offices will participate in the initial implementation of nationwide toll-free telephone service. The 12 field offices are St. Paul and Duluth, Minn.; Fargo, N.D.; Des Moines, Iowa; Jacksonville and Tampa, Fla.; Atlanta, Ga.; Birmingham, Ala.; Oakland, Sacramento and Covina, Calif.; and Mesa, Ariz. Altogether, these 12 offices serve some 130,000 retired employees, spouses, and survivors and some 50,000 active rail employees.
Nationwide toll-free telephone service will be available in additional RRB field locations after the initial implementation phase has been completed. Until then, RRB customers who reside outside of the service areas covered by these initial 12 offices should continue to use the telephone number for the field office providing service to their area by calling the automated RRB Help Line at 1-800-808-0772 or by looking online at www.rrb.gov.
The new toll-free service is scheduled to be implemented nationwide in all RRB field offices by March 2009.
(This item was distributed by the RRB Nov. 20, 2008.)
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The amounts of compensation subject to railroad retirement tier I and tier II payroll taxes will increase in 2009. However, the tier I tax rate on employees and employers remains unchanged. Under the Railroad Retirement and Survivors’ Improvement Act of 2001, tier II tax rates are determined annually by an average account benefits ratio. Based on this ratio, the tier II tax rates on employees and employers will remain at their 2008 level in 2009. Railroad unemployment insurance tax rates paid by employers will continue to include a 1.5 percent surcharge in 2009.....Read More
Beginning July 1, 2009, the maximum daily benefit rate payable for claims under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act increases to $64 from $61. Benefits are normally paid for the number of days of unemployment or sickness over four in 14-day registration periods, so maximum benefits for biweekly claims will total $640. 00.
During the first 14-day claim period in a benefit year, benefits are payable for each day of unemployment or sickness in excess of seven, rather than four, which, in effect, provides a one-week waiting period. Initial sickness claims must also begin with four consecutive days of sickness. However, only one waiting period is required during any period of continuing unemployment or sickness, even if that period continues into a subsequent benefit year. Claimants already on the rolls will, therefore, normally not be required to serve another waiting period because of the onset of the new benefit year.
To qualify for normal railroad unemployment or sickness benefits in the benefit year beginning July 1, 2009, an employee must have had railroad earnings of at least $3,200 in calendar year 2008, not counting more than $1,280 for any month. Those who were first employed in the rail industry in 2008 must also have at least five months of creditable railroad service in 2008.
Under certain conditions, employees with 10 or more years of service who do not qualify in the new benefit year on the basis of their 2008 earnings may still be able to receive benefits after June 30, 2009. Ten-year employees who received normal benefits in the benefit year ending June 30, 2009, might still be eligible for extended benefits, and ten-year employees may be eligible for accelerated benefits if they have rail earnings of at least $3,325 in 2009, not counting earnings of more than $1,330 a month.
For more information about claims, benefits, or for the address and telephone number for the RRB office nearest you, contact the Railroad Retirement Board by calling their toll-free RRB Help Line at 1-800-808-0772, or by visiting their website at www.rrb.gov.
Following are links to RRB forms, instructions and general information. For specific answers to benefit questions, please contact your RRB District Office.
Railroad Retirement Forms & Information
"An Injury To One Is An Injury To All"
