BA-3 (electronic e Annual Report of Creditable Compensation

Appendix I
Employer Reporting Instructions
Effective 01-2008

U.S. Railroad Retirement Board Phone: (312) 751- 7139
844 North Rush Street
TTY: (312) 751- 7401
Chicago IL, 60611-2092
Web: www.rrb.gov

Electronic File Format for Form BA-3, Annual Report of Creditable Compensation
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 pay RRA and
RUIA benefits and is authorized for collection under OMB control number 3220-0008.
This report is due at the Railroad Retirement Board by no later than the last day of February. 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 version of this form, transmitted by e-mail or FTP, takes an average of 46.25 hours
per response to complete, including time for reviewing the instructions, getting the needed data, and
reviewing the completed form.
This exhibit explains only magnetic media format. For information about the data to be entered, refer to Part
V, Chapter 3.
Report Specifications
Record Length

300 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 or compensation data. A record may contain only
service months or only compensation, but must contain one or the other.

Totals Record

Every magnetic media report should include a grand-totals record at the end. The specific format is in the
appendix. Optional subtotal records may be included.

Header Labels

Cartridges must have header labels in IBM standard format.

Block Size

Recommended block size is 3000 (factor 10).

Code Language

Cartridges: EBCDIC encoded on 9 track 1/2 inch
CD ROM, floppy disk: and electronic files: Formatted ASCII text

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Appendix I
Employer Reporting Instructions
Effective 01-2008

U.S. Railroad Retirement Board Phone: (312) 751- 7139
844 North Rush Street
TTY: (312) 751- 7401
Chicago IL, 60611-2092
Web: www.rrb.gov

Form BA-3 Record Format
Tape Positions

Data and Instructions

1

"0" (zero).

2-5

Four digit year being reported.

6

"7"

7-10

Four-digit BA number assigned by the Railroad Retirement Board.

11-20

Entries in this field are optional. The “Payroll ID” reference number shown here will be included on certain
correspondence to the employer to assist the employer in locating the employee.

21-29

Employee's social security number.

30-49

First twenty (20) characters of the employee's surname. Spaces in such names as McCarthy, St. Clair, De La
Cross are acceptable.

50-64

First fifteen (15) characters of the employee's first name.

65

Employee’s middle initial.

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.

73-74

Blank Filler.

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.

82-83

Blank Filler.

84-95

84-Jan
85-Feb
86-Mar
87-Apr
88-May
89-Jun
90-Jul
91-Aug
92-Sep
93-Oct
94-Nov
95-Dec

Service Month Detail. The RRB has added service month codes 8 and 9 for employers to report employment
relation information for non-worked months. The new codes would be used in place of code zero (0). The possible
service month codes are:
1 = worked
8 = not worked but has employment relation (new).
9 = not worked and has no employment relation (new)
0 = not worked and employment relation is unknown.
All 12 positions should be filled. You cannot mix all four codes for a single employee. You must use either codes (1,
8, and 9) or use existing codes (1 and 0).

96-97

Service Month Total. The sum of the characters in positions 84-95. Enter zeroes if no months are reported.

98-105

Creditable Tier I compensation, up to the annual maximum for the year. ($$$$$$¢¢)

106-107

Blank Filler.

108-115

Creditable Tier II compensation, up to the annual maximum for the year. ($$$$$$¢¢)

116-117

Blank Filler.

118-122

Last daily pay rate. ($$$¢¢) If pay rate exceeds $200.00, enter 20000.

123-124

Blank Filler.

125-132

Creditable Miscellaneous compensation. ($$$$$$¢¢)

133-134

Blank Filler.

135-142

Creditable Sick Pay compensation. ($$$$$$¢¢)

143-145

Blank Filler.

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Appendix I
Employer Reporting Instructions
Effective 01-2008

U.S. Railroad Retirement Board Phone: (312) 751- 7139
844 North Rush Street
TTY: (312) 751- 7401
Chicago IL, 60611-2092
Web: www.rrb.gov

Form BA-3 Record Format
Tape Positions

Data and Instructions

146-175

Mailing Address Line 1 (Street Number, Post Office Box, etc.).

176-205

Mailing Address Line 2.

206-225

City

226-227

State

228-232

Zip Code

233-240

Effective date of the address information. (MMDDCCYY).

241-300

Blank Filler. (For future expansion).

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) Notice
Federal agencies may not conduct or sponsor, and respondents are not required to respond to, any collection of
information unless it displays a valid OMB number. If you wish, send comments regarding the accuracy of our
estimates or any other aspect of these forms, including suggestions for reducing completion time, to
Chief of Information Services
U.S. Railroad Retirement Board
844 North Rush Street, 4th floor
Chicago, IL 60611-2092
FAX: (312) 751-7154
E-mail: Ronald.Hodapp@rrb.gov

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