(a) Background. The Railroad Retirement Act provides a system of benefits for railroad employees, their dependents and survivors, and is integrated with the Social Security Act to provide a coordinated system of retirement, survivor, dependent and disability benefits payable on the basis of an individual's work in the railroad industry and in employment and self-employment covered by the Social Security Act. With respect to the coordination between the two programs, the Railroad Retirement Act distinguishes between “career” or “vested” railroad workers and those individuals who may be considered “casual” or “non-vested” railroad workers based on the total amount of railroad service credited to the worker, as explained in paragraph (b) of this section. The Railroad Retirement Board transfers to the Social Security Administration (SSA) the compensation records of workers who at the time of retirement, onset of disability or death, are non-vested and meet certain other requirements. Any compensation paid to non-vested workers for service after 1936 becomes wages under the Social Security Act (to the extent they do not exceed the annual wage limitations described in § 404.1047). Any benefits payable to non-vested workers, their dependents, and their survivors, are computed on the basis of the combined compensation and social security covered earnings creditable to the workers' records. Once a railroad worker meets the vesting requirements, the record of the worker's railroad service and compensation generally may not be used for benefit purposes under the Social Security Act, but under certain circumstances may be transferred after the worker's death to SSA for use in determining social security benefit entitlement for the railroad worker's survivors (see § 404.1407). Under certain circumstances (see § 404.1413), certification of benefits payable under the provisions of the Social Security Act will be made to the Railroad Retirement Board. The Railroad Retirement Board will certify such benefits to the Secretary of the Treasury.

(b) Who is a vested railroad worker? You are a vested railroad worker if you have:

(1) Ten years or more of service in the railroad industry, or

(2) Effective January 1, 2002, you have at least 5 years of service in the railroad industry, all of which accrue after December 31, 1995.

(c) Definition of years of service. As used in paragraph (b) of this section, the term years of service has the same meaning as assigned to it by section 1(f) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974, as amended, (45 U.S.C. 231(f)).

[69 FR 5692, Feb. 6, 2004]

If you are a non-vested worker, we (the Social Security Administration) will consider your services in the railroad industry to be “employment” as defined in section 210 of the Social Security Act for the following purposes:

(a) To determine entitlement to, or the amount of, any monthly benefits or lump-sum death payment on the basis of your wages and self-employment income;

(b) To determine entitlement to, or the amount of, any survivor monthly benefit or any lump-sum death payment on the basis of your wages and self-employment income provided you did not have a “current connection” with the railroad industry, as defined in section 1(o) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974, as amended, (45 U.S.C. 231(o)), at the time of your death; (in such cases, survivor benefits are not payable under the Railroad Retirement Act);

(c) To determine entitlement to a period of disability (see subpart B of this part) on the basis of your wages and self-employment income; or

(d) To apply the provisions of section 203 of the Social Security Act concerning deductions from benefits under the annual earnings test (see subpart E of this part).

[69 FR 5693, Feb. 6, 2004]

Coverage under the act of services performed after 1936 by an individual in the railroad industry is effective as follows:

(a) The provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of § 404.1402 insofar as they relate to survivor monthly benefits are effective for months after December 1946 and insofar as they relate to lump-sum death payments are effective with respect to deaths after 1946;

(b) The provisions of paragraph (a) of § 404.1402 insofar as they relate to old-age insurance benefits or monthly benefits of dependents of old-age insurance beneficiaries are effective November 1, 1951; insofar as they relate to disability insurance benefits are effective for months after June 1957; and insofar as they relate to monthly benefits for dependents of disability insurance beneficiaries are effective for months after August 1958;

(c) The provisions of paragraph (c) of § 404.1402 are effective for benefits for months after June 1955; and

(d) The provisions of paragraph (d) of § 404.1402 are effective November 1, 1951.

[25 FR 5182, June 10, 1960]

(a) Awards by the Railroad Retirement Board prior to October 30, 1951. The provisions of § 404.1402(a) shall not apply with respect to the wages and self-employment income of an individual if, prior to October 30, 1951, the Railroad Retirement Board has awarded under the Railroad Retirement Act a retirement annuity to such individual or a survivor annuity with respect to the death of such individual and such retirement or survivor annuity, as the case may be, was payable at the time an application for benefits is filed under the Social Security Act on the basis of the wages and self-employment income of such individual. A pension payable under section 6 of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 as in effect prior to the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974, or an annuity paid in a lump sum equal to its commuted value under section 3(i) of the Railroad Retirement Act in effect prior to the Social Security Act of October 30, 1951, is not a “retirement or survivor annuity” for the purpose of this paragraph.

(b) You continue to work in the railroad industry after establishing entitlement to old-age insurance benefits under section 202(a) of the Social Security Act. If your service in the railroad industry is used to establish your entitlement to, or to determine the amount of, your old-age insurance benefits under section 202(a) of the Social Security Act, but you become vested after the effective date of your benefits, your railroad service will no longer be deemed to be in “employment” as defined in section 210 of the Act. Your benefits and any benefits payable to your spouse or child under section 202(b), (c), or (d) of the Act will be terminated with the month preceding the month in which you become a vested worker. However, if you remain insured (see subpart B of this part) without the use of your railroad compensation, your benefits will instead be recalculated without using your railroad compensation. The recalculated benefits will be payable beginning with the month in which you become a vested worker. Any monthly benefits paid prior to the month you become a vested worker are deemed to be correct payments.

[18 FR 8694, Dec. 24, 1953, as amended at 25 FR 5182, June 10, 1960; 42 FR 18273, Apr. 6, 1977; 69 FR 5693, Feb. 6, 2004]

Notwithstanding the fact that, pursuant to the preceding provisions of this subpart, services rendered by an individual in the railroad industry are in employment, no lump-sum death payment or survivor monthly benefits shall be paid (except as provided in § 404.1407) under the regulations in this part on the basis of such individual's wages and self-employment income if any person, upon filing application therefor, would be entitled to an annuity under section 2 of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 or a lump-sum payment under section 6(b) of such Act with respect to the death of that individual; or for periods prior to 1975, would have been entitled to an annuity under section 5 or a lump-sum payment under section 5(f)(1) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 with respect to the death of that individual.

[42 FR 18273, Apr. 6, 1977]

The provisions of § 404.1406 shall not operate if:

(a) The survivor is, or upon filing application would be, entitled to a monthly benefit with respect to the death of an insured individual for a month prior to January 1947, if such monthly benefit is greater in amount than the survivor annuity payable to such survivor after 1946 under the Railroad Retirement Act; or

(b) The residual lump-sum payment provided by section 6(c) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (or section 5(f)(2) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 prior to the 1974 Act) with respect to the death of an insured individual is paid by the Railroad Retirement Board pursuant to an irrevocable election filed with the Board by the widow, widower, or parent of such individual to waive all future annuities or benefits based on the combined record of earnings and compensation to which such widow, widower or parent might become entitled, but only to the extent that widow's, widower's or parent's benefits may be payable under the regulations of this part to such widow, widower or parent, as the case may be, solely on the basis of the wages and self-employment income of such deceased individual and without regard to any compensation which may be treated as wages pursuant to § 404.1408.

[42 FR 18273, Apr. 6, 1977]

(a) General. Where pursuant to the preceding provisions of this subpart, services rendered by an individual in the railroad industry are considered to be employment as defined in section 210 of the Social Security Act (see § 404.1027 of this part). Thus, any compensation (as defined in section 1(h) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 or prior to the 1974 Act, section 1(h) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937) received by such individual for such services shall constitute wages, provided that the provisions of § 404.1406 do not operate to bar the payments of benefits under title II of the Social Security Act.

(b) Military service exception. An exception to paragraph (a) of this section applies to any compensation attributable as having been paid during any month on account of military service creditable under section 1 of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (or section 4 of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 prior to the 1974 Act). Such compensation shall not constitute wages for purposes of title II of the Social Security Act if, based on such services, wages are deemed to have been paid to such individual during such month under the provisions described in §§ 404.1350 through 404.1352 of this part.

[65 FR 16813, Mar. 30, 2000]

Compensation which is treated as wages under § 404.1408 shall be used, together with wages (see subpart K of this part) and self-employment income (see subpart K of this part), for purposes of:

(a) Determining an individual's insured status for monthly benefits or the lump-sum death payment (see subpart B of this part);

(b) Computing such individual's primary insurance amount (see subpart C of this part);

(c) Determining an individual's entitlement to the establishment of a period of disability (see subpart B of this part for disability insured status requirements); and

(d) Applying the deduction provisions of section 203 of the act (see subpart E of this part).

[25 FR 5183, June 10, 1960]

(a) Years prior to 1975. Where the Railroad Retirement Board certifies to SSA a report of record of compensation, such compensation is treated as wages under § 404.1408. For periods of service which do not identify the months or quarters in which such compensation was paid, the sum of the compensation quarters of coverage (see § 404.1412) will be presumed, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, to represent an equivalent number of quarters of coverage (see § 404.101). No more than four quarters of coverage shall be credited to an individual in a single calendar year.

(b) Years after 1974. Compensation paid in a calendar year will, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, be presumed to have been paid in equal proportions with respect to all months in the year in which the employee will have been in railroad service. (For years prior to 1975, see § 404.1412.)

(c) Allocation of compensation to months of service. If by means of the presumptions in this section an individual does not have an insured status (see subpart B of this part) on the basis of quarters of coverage with which he is credited, or a deceased individual's primary insurance amount (see § 404.201) may be affected because he attained age 22 after 1936, the Administration may request the Railroad Retirement Board to furnish a report of the months in which such individual rendered service for compensation which is treated as wages under § 404.1408 if it appears the identification of such months may result in an insured status or if it will affect such primary insurance amount.

(d) Effect of self-employment income and maximum earnings. However, if such individual also had self-employment income for a taxable year and the sum of such income and wages (including compensation which is treated as wages under § 404.1408) paid to or received by him during such taxable year equals the following amounts, each calendar quarter any part of which falls in such taxable year, shall be a quarter of coverage:

(1) After 1950 and prior to 1955, equals $3,600 of remuneration;

(2) After 1954 and prior to 1959, equals $4,200 of remuneration;

(3) After 1958 and prior to 1966, equals $4,800 of remuneration;

(4) After 1965 and prior to 1968, equals $6,600 of remuneration;

(5) After 1967 and beginning prior to 1972, equals $7,800 of remuneration (including a fiscal year which began in 1971 and ended in 1972);

(6) Beginning after 1971 and prior to 1973, equals $9,000 of remuneration;

(7) Beginning after 1972 and prior to 1974, equals $10,800 of remuneration;

(8) Beginning after 1973 and prior to 1975, equals $13,200 of remuneration;

(9) Beginning after 1974 and prior to 1976, equals $14,100 of remuneration;

(10) Beginning after 1975 and prior to 1977, equals $15,300 of remuneration; or

(11) Beginning after 1976, and amount equal to the contribution and benefit base as determined under section 230 of the Social Security Act which is effective for such calendar year.

This subsection is an exception to the rule in paragraph (a) of this section concerning a presumption applicable to conversion of railroad compensation into quarters of coverage for years prior to 1975. [42 FR 18273, Apr. 6, 1977, as amended at 65 FR 16814, Mar. 30, 2000]

As used in this subpart, a compensation quarter of coverage is any quarter of coverage computed with respect to compensation paid to an individual for railroad employment after 1936 and prior to 1975 in accordance with the provisions for determining such quarters of coverage as contained in section 5(l)(4) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937. (For years beginning 1975, see § 404.1410(b)).

[42 FR 18274, Apr. 6, 1977]

(a) When we will certify payment to RRB. If we find that you are entitled to any payment under title II of the Social Security Act, we will certify payment to the Railroad Retirement Board if you meet any of the following requirements:

(1) You are a vested worker; or

(2) You are the wife or husband of a vested worker; or

(3) You are the survivor of a vested worker and you are entitled, or could upon application be entitled to, an annuity under section 2 of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974, as amended, (45 U.S.C. 231(a)); or

(4) You are entitled to benefits under section 202 of the Social Security Act on the basis of the wages and self-employment income of a vested worker (unless you are the survivor of a vested worker who did not have a current connection, as defined in section 1(o) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974, as amended, (45 U.S.C. 231(o)) with the railroad industry at the time of his or her death).

(b) What information does certification include? The certification we make to the Railroad Retirement Board for individuals entitled to any payment(s) under title II will include your name, address, payment amount(s), and the date the payment(s) should begin.

(c) Applicability limitations. The applicability limitations in paragraphs (a)(1) through (4) of this section affect claimants who first become entitled to benefits under title II of the Social Security Act after 1974. (See also § 404.1810.)

[69 FR 5693, Feb. 6, 2004]