[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 20, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 20CFR200.2]

[Page 138-141]
 
                      TITLE 20--EMPLOYEES' BENEFITS
 
                  CHAPTER II--RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD
 
PART 200_GENERAL ADMINISTRATION--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 200.2  The general course and method by which the Board's functions 
are channeled and determined.

    (a) Retirement and death benefits. (1) Retirement and death benefits 
must be applied for by filing application therefor. (For details as to 
application, see parts 210 and 237 of this chapter). The Bureau of 
Retirement Claims considers the application and the evidence and 
information submitted with it. Wage and service records maintained by 
the Board are checked and if necessary, further evidence is obtained 
from the employee, the employer, fellow employees, public records and 
any other person or source available. The Bureau makes initial decisions 
on the following matters:
    (i) Applications for benefits;
    (ii) Requests for the withdrawal of an application;
    (iii) Requests for a change in an annuity beginning date;
    (iv) The termination of an annuity;
    (v) The modification of the amount of an annuity or lump sum;
    (vi) Requests for the reinstatement of an annuity which had been 
terminated or modified;
    (vii) The existence of an erroneous payment;
    (viii) The eligibility of an individual for a supplemental annuity 
or the amount of such supplemental annuity.
    (ix) Whether representative payments shall serve the interests of an 
individual by reason of his incapacity to manage his annuity payments; 
and
    (x) Who shall be appointed or continued as representative payee on 
behalf of an annuitant.
    (2) A claimant dissatisfied with the Bureau's decision may, upon 
filing notice within one year from the date the decision is mailed to 
the claimant, appeal to the Bureau of Hearings and Appeals. Provided, 
however, That (i) an individual under age 16 shall not have the right to 
appeal a finding of incapacity to manage his annuity payments, but shall 
have the right to contest on appeal that he is, in fact, under age 16; 
(ii) an individual who has been adjudged legally incompetent shall not 
have the right to appeal a finding of incapacity to manage his annuity 
payments, but shall have the right to contest on appeal the fact of his 
having been adjudged legally incompetent; and (iii) an individual shall 
not have the right to appeal a denial of his application to serve as 
representative payee on behalf of an annuitant. There he

[[Page 139]]

may have an oral hearing before a hearings officer of which a 
stenographic record is made, submit additional evidence, be represented, 
and present written and oral argument. If dissatisfied with the decision 
of the hearings officer, the claimant may appeal to the Board itself. 
This appeal must be made on a prescribed form within four months of the 
date a copy of the hearings officer's decision was mailed to him. If new 
evidence is received, the Board may remand the case to the hearings 
officer for investigation and recommendation concerning the new 
evidence. (For details on appeals procedure, see part 260 of this 
chapter.) A claimant, after he has unsuccessfully appealed to the Board 
itself and has thus exhausted all administrative remedies within the 
Board, may obtain a review of a final decision of the Board by filing a 
petition for review, within one year after the entry of the decision on 
the rec ords of the Board and its communication to the claimant, in the 
U.S. Court of Appeals for the circuit in which the claimant resides, or 
in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, or in the U.S. 
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
    (b) Unemployment, sickness, and maternity benefits. (1) Claims for 
unemployment benefits are handled by a comprehensive organization set up 
in the field. Under agreements between the Railroad Retirement Board and 
covered employers, the employers select employees of theirs to act as 
unemployment claims agents. These agents perform their services, 
specified in the agreement, in accordance with instructions issued by 
the Board but under general supervision and control of the employer. In 
accordance with the agreements, employers are reimbursed for such 
services at the rate of 50 cents for each claim taken by an unemployment 
claims agent and transmitted to the Board. There are some 13,000 such 
contract claims agents. An unemployed person who wishes to file a claim 
for unemployment benefits need only consult his recent railroad employer 
to be directed to the unemployment claims agent with whom he may file 
his claim.
    (2) When an employee makes his first claim in any benefit year, he 
identifies himself and fills out an application for unemployment 
benefits (UI-1), an application for employment service (Form ES-1), and 
a pay rate report (Form UI 1a) to be used in determining the rate at 
which benefits may be paid. The employee is given an informational 
booklet UB-4 and an Unemployment Bulletin No. UB-3 informing him of his 
responsibilities and explaining the statements to which he is required 
to certify and to which he does certify when he registers for benefits. 
When the applications and pay rate report are completed, the 
unemployment claims agent sends them to the nearest field office of the 
Board. That office inspects the applications to detect errors and 
omissions and to note items requiring investigation. The office also 
attempts to verify the employee's statement about his pay rate unless 
the unemployment claims agent has already done so. The application for 
unemployment benefits and the pay rate report are then sent to the 
appropriate regional office of the Board. The application for employment 
service is retained in the field office for use in referring the 
claimant to suitable job openings. On the basis of the information 
furnished on the application for unemployment benefits, the regional 
office determines whether the applicant is a qualified employee (that 
is, whether he earned $500 or more from covered employment in the base 
year). The applicant is notified by letter if he is found to be not 
qualified.
    (3) In addition to the application forms and pay rate report, the 
claimant executes a registration and claim for unemployment insurance 
benefits (Form UI-3). In substance, registration consists of his 
appearing before an unemployment claims agent during the agent's working 
hours and signing his name on the registration and claim form for the 
days he wishes to claim as days of unemployment. Registration for any 
day must be made on the day or not later than the sixth calendar day 
thereafter, except that, if such calendar day is not a business day, the 
claimant may make his registration on the next following business day. 
In other words, a claimant must ordinarily appear for registration at 
seven-

[[Page 140]]

day intervals. Under certain circumstances, such as illness, employment, 
looking for employment, etc., an employee may make a delayed 
registration for any day for which he is unable to register within the 
time limit mentioned above. The unemployment claims agent sends the 
claim to the nearest field office where it is inspected with a view to 
calling the claimant in for interview or referral to job openings, 
detecting errors and omissions, and noting items requiring 
investigation. The claim is then forwarded to the regional office.
    (4) Claims for sickness benefits are handled by the field 
organization of the Board. An employee need not register in person for 
sickness benefits but claims for such benefits must be made on the forms 
prescribed by the Board and executed by the individual claiming benefits 
except that, if the Board is satisfied that an employee is so sick or 
injured that he cannot sign forms, the Board may accept forms executed 
by someone else in his behalf. Forms used in connection with claims for 
sickness benefits may be obtained from a railroad employer, a railway 
labor organization, or any Board office. An application for sickness 
benefits (Form SI-1a) and the required statement of sickness (Form SI-
1b) may be mailed to any office of the Board (see part 335 of this 
chapter). It is important that a statement of sickness be filed 
promptly, for no day can be considered as a day of sickness unless a 
statement of sickness with respect to such day is filed at an office of 
the Board within ten days. The application and statement of sickness are 
forwarded to a regional office where they are examined. If it appears 
that the employee is entitled to benefits, the regional office will send 
him a claim form covering a 14-day registration period, and a pay rate 
report (Form SI-1d). The employee completes the forms, indicating on the 
claim form the days during the period he claims as days of sickness and 
returns both forms to the regional office to which the claim form is 
preaddressed. When additional medical information is needed, a form for 
supplemental doctor's statement is sent to the employee. This should be 
filled out by a doctor and returned to the Board.
    (5) Maternity benefits must be applied for on a form prescribed by 
the Board. A statement of maternity sickness, executed by a person 
authorized to execute statements of sickness (see part 335 of this 
chapter), is required also. The necessary forms may be obtained from a 
railroad employer, a railway labor organization, or any Board office. An 
application for maternity benefits (Form SI-101) and the statement of 
maternity sickness (Form SI-104) may be filed in person or by mail with 
any Board office. It is important that the statement of maternity 
sickness be filed promptly since no day can be considered as a day of 
sickness in a maternity period unless a statement of maternity sickness 
with respect to the day is filed at an office of the Board within ten 
days. As in the case of claims for sickness benefits, the forms are 
forwarded to a regional office. Claim forms are mailed to the claimant 
and are pre-addressed for return to the regional office.
    (6) Whether benefits are payable to a claimant and, if so, the 
amount of benefits payable, is determined with respect to claims for 
unemployment, sickness, and maternity benefits, by the regional office. 
The names and addresses of claimants to whom benefits are found payable, 
and the amounts payable to them, are certified to the local disbursing 
office of the Treasury Department which mails the benefit checks to the 
claimants. If a claim is denied in whole or in part, an explanation is 
given to the claimant by letter.
    (7) The rate at which benefits are payable is determined from the 
claimant's railroad wages earned in a base year period or from his daily 
pay rate for his last railroad employment in the base year period, 
whichever will result in the higher benefit rate. His daily benefit rate 
will be at least 60 per centum of his daily pay rate for his last 
railroad employment in the base year period, but not exceeding $10.20.
    (8) Any qualified employee whose claim for benefits under the 
Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act has been denied in whole or in part 
may, within one year from the date such denial is communicated to him, 
appeal from the initial determination, and such appeal

[[Page 141]]

will be heard before an impartial hearings officer. An unsuccessful 
claimant in an appeal before such hearings officer may appeal to the 
Board. (For further details of appeals procedure by claimants for 
benefits and for appeals procedure by employers, see parts 319 and 320 
of this chapter.)

Any claimant, or any railway labor organization organized in accordance 
with the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, of which the claimant is a 
member, or any other party aggrieved by a final decision pursuant to the 
Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, may, only after all administrative 
remedies within the Board will have been availed of and exhausted, 
obtain a review of such final decision of the Board by filing a petition 
for review within 90 days after the mailing of notice of such decision 
to the claimant or other party, or within such further time as the Board 
may allow, in the United States court of appeals for the circuit in 
which the claimant or other party resides or will have had his principal 
place of business or principal executive office, or in the United States 
Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, or in the United States Court 
of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
    (c) Current compensation and service records. Current compensation 
and service records are maintained by the Bureau of Research and 
Employment Accounts. These records are obtained from reports made 
periodically on either a quarterly or annual basis by employers and 
employee representatives. General instructions in this regard may be 
found in part 250 of this chapter. Special instructions to employers and 
employee representatives are issued from time to time by the Director of 
Research and Employment Accounts.
    (d) Collection of contributions. The Office of Budget and Fiscal 
Operations acts as the collecting agency of the Board in receiving 
contributions due under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. 
Contributions are, with some few exceptions, due quarterly and with the 
payment, the employer must file a report, Form DC-1, Employers Quarterly 
or Annual Report of Contributions under the Railroad Unemployment 
Insurance Act. (For further details see part 345 of this chapter.)
    (e) Employment service. Employers needing workers may avail 
themselves of the Board's employment service by making requests of any 
field office for referrals, in writing, on forms provided by the Board, 
or by telephone.

[15 FR 6752, Oct. 6, 1950, as amended at 21 FR 4808, June 29, 1956; 
Board Order 62-115, 27 FR 9254, Sept. 19, 1962; Board Order 67-67, 32 FR 
9064, June 27, 1967; 41 FR 22557, June 4, 1976. Redesignated at 52 FR 
11010, Apr. 6, 1987, as amended at 55 FR 26430, June 28, 1990]