[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 20, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 20CFR211.2]

[Page 206-207]
 
                      TITLE 20--EMPLOYEES' BENEFITS
 
                  CHAPTER II--RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD
 
PART 211_CREDITABLE RAILROAD COMPENSATION--Table of Contents
 
Sec.  211.2  Definition of compensation.

    (a) The term compensation means any form of payment made to an 
individual for services rendered as an employee for an employer; 
services performed as an employee representative; and any separation or 
subsistence allowance paid under any benefit schedule provided in 
conformance with title VII of the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 
1973 and any termination allowance paid under section 702 of that Act. 
Compensation may be paid as money, a commodity, a service or a 
privilege. However, if an employee is to be paid in any form other than 
money, the employer and employee must agree before the service is 
performed upon the following:
    (1) The value of the commodity, service or privilege; and
    (2) That the amount agreed upon to be paid may be paid in the form 
of the commodity, service or privilege.
    (b) Compensation includes, but is not limited to, the following:
    (1) Salary, wages and bonuses;
    (2) Pay for time lost as an employee;
    (3) Cash tips of $20 or more received in a calendar month;
    (4) Vacation pay;
    (5) Military pay as determined in Sec.  211.7 of this part;
    (6) Displacement allowances as provided for in Sec.  211.8 of this 
part;
    (7) Dismissal allowances as provided for in Sec.  211.9 of this 
part;
    (8) Separation allowances as provided for in Sec.  211.10 of this 
part;
    (9) Miscellaneous pay as provided for in Sec.  211.11 of this part;
    (10) Payments made under title VII of the Regional Rail 
Reorganization Act of 1973 as provided for in Sec.  211.12 of this part.
    (11) Payments paid to an employee or employee representative which 
are subject to tax under section 3201(a) or 3211(a) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1954 are creditable as compensation under the Railroad 
Retirement Act for purposes of computation of benefits under sections 
3(a)(1), 3(f)(3), 4(a)(1) and 4(f)(1).
    (12) Voluntary payments of any tax by an employer, without deducting 
such tax from the employee's salary.
    (13) Payments made by an employer with respect to a deceased 
employee except as provided for in Sec.  211.13 of this part.
    (c) Compensation does not include:
    (1) Tips, except as provided in paragraph (b)(3) of this section;
    (2) Payments for services performed by a nonresident alien for the 
period the individual is temporarily present in the United States as a 
nonimmigrant

[[Page 207]]

under subparagraph (F) or (J) of section 1101(a)(15) of title 8, U.S.C. 
and which is performed to carry out the purpose specified in 
subparagraph (F) or (J), as the case may be;
    (3) Remuneration paid in certain cases, as described below, for 
services performed for a local lodge or division of a railway labor 
organization.
    (i) Remuneration for services rendered for a local lodge or division 
of a railway labor organization which was earned after 1936 and prior to 
April 1, 1940, shall not be creditable as compensation in a month unless 
taxes with respect to such remuneration were paid under the Railroad 
Retirement Tax Act prior to July 1, 1940.
    (ii) Remuneration for services rendered for a local lodge or 
division of a railway labor organization which was earned after March 
31, 1940, and prior to January 1, 1975, shall not be creditable as 
compensation in a month if the amount of such remuneration earned in the 
month is less than $3.00.
    (iii) Remuneration for services rendered for a local lodge or 
division of a railway labor organization which was earned after December 
31, 1974, shall not be creditable as compensation in a month if the 
amount of such remuneration earned in the month is less than $25.00.
    (4) Payments for service as a delegate to a national or 
international convention of a railway-labor-organization employer if the 
individual rendering the service has not previously rendered service, 
other than as a delegate, which may be included in the individual's 
years of service;
    (5) Except as provided in Sec.  211.2(b)(11), the amount of any 
payment (including any amount paid by an employer for insurance or 
annuities, or into a fund, to provide for any such payment) made to, or 
on behalf of, an employee or any of the employee's dependents under a 
plan or system established by an employer which makes provisions for 
employees generally (or for employees generally and their dependents), 
or for a class or classes of employees (or for a class or classes of 
employees and their dependents), on account of sickness or accident 
disability, or medical, or hospitalization expenses in connection with 
sickness or accident disability; and
    (6) Any amount paid specifically--either as an advance, as 
reimbursement or allowance--for traveling or other bona fide and 
necessary expenses incurred, or reasonably expected to be incurred in 
the business of the employer, provided the payment is identified by the 
employer either by a separate payment or by specifically indicating the 
separate amounts where both wages and expense reimbursement or allowance 
are combined in a single payment.

[49 FR 46732, Nov. 28, 1984, as amended at 53 FR 17184, May 16, 1988; 58 
FR 45251, Aug. 27, 1993]