Railroad Job Vacancies List

United States
Railroad Retirement Board
Office of Programs

Program
Letter

Quality Reporting Service Center

Phone: (312) 751-4992

e-mail: qrsc@rrb.gov

Fax: (312) 751-7190

Circular Letter UI-C-214

Date: March 4, 2005

TO:

Employer Hiring Officials and Chief Executives

SUBJECT:

Reporting Job Vacancies to the Railroad Retirement Board

Background
Section 12 of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act authorizes the Railroad Retirement
Board (RRB) to operate a free employment service. The goals of the employment service are to
secure new employment for experienced railroad workers who are unemployed, and to provide
a pool of experienced labor for employers. The purpose of this circular letter is to explain how
employers can best utilize the RRB's employment services, and to review certain Federal laws
regarding railroad hiring.
RRB employment services
The three basic employment services operated by the RRB include:
• The Central Register
• The Job Vacancy Listing
• A centralized site on the Internet listing available railroad jobs with links to employer
employment Internet sites.
An explanation of each employment service follows.
Central Register
The RRB maintains a central register of railroad employees with at least one year of railroad
service who have declared their current availability for employment. The register is maintained
on a computer database allowing the selection of employees by: occupation; number of years of
experience in the occupation; location of residence of the employee; last employer; and
willingness to relocate.
Lists of available candidates
Upon request, the RRB can furnish employers with employee listings from the register that are
tailored to an employer's job vacancy requirements. For example, an employer can be
furnished a list of all electricians and signalmen with at least two years of experience who are
willing to relocate to the eastern United States. The employer could then use the list to contact
prospective candidates.

Notices to prospective job candidates
Alternatively, arrangements can be made for the RRB to mail notices to targeted employees
instructing those interested in a particular vacancy to submit a resume or otherwise contact the
employer.
Using the central register
Requests in writing or by telephone for listings from the central register may be directed to your
local RRB field office. You can locate the nearest RRB field office by either visiting our Web site
at www.rrb.gov or by calling our toll-free Help-Line at 1-800-808-0772.
Job vacancy listing
The RRB maintains a listing of railroad related job vacancies. The listing is available through
the RRB field offices to railroad employees interested in seeking new jobs. When an employer
posts a job vacancy with a RRB field office, unemployed experienced railroad workers
throughout the country can be made aware of the opening.
Notices of job vacancies may be provided to the RRB either by telephone or by mail and should
include:
• approximate number of employees to be hired;
• location of the jobs;
• class or craft of the jobs or a description of the work to be performed in the jobs; and
• name, address, and telephone number of the individual with authority to hire employees
for each of the job openings.
If arrangements are not already in place, we suggest that your local hiring officials contact the
nearest RRB field office concerning the reporting of job vacancies.
RRB Internet site
The RRB maintains a listing of employer job vacancies on the Internet. The web-site address
for this listing is www.rrb.gov. This listing is updated weekly with new job vacancies. For further
information on any of the vacancies that are listed, an employee can call the nearest RRB Office
for details. Employers that maintain a website, which includes their job openings, can link this
site to our agency's website. To obtain more information, contact the Railroad Retirement
Board's webmaster through our web site or send an e-mail directly to webmaster@rrb.gov.
Benefit to employers
The RRB requests employers to report job vacancy information to the agency. Although
furnishing job vacancy information is voluntary, failure to furnish it defeats the purpose of the
RRB's placement program by decreasing the opportunities for reemployment of persons
claiming railroad unemployment insurance benefits. This in turn increases the amounts of
benefits charged to employers, and can affect contribution rates under the Railroad
Unemployment Insurance Act.
Questions
If you have questions or need additional information about the RRB's placement program,
please contact the manager of your local RRB district office.
Paperwork Reduction Act Notice: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, Federal agencies are required to estimate reporting
burdens associated with their programs. We estimate that reporting information about a job vacancy requires about 10 minutes,
including the time for obtaining the needed data and furnishing the report (OMB 3220-0057). Federal agencies may not conduct
or sponsor, and respondents are not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB number. If
you wish, send comments regarding the accuracy of our estimate or any other aspect of this program, including suggestions for
reducing reporting time, to the Chief of Information Resources Management, Railroad Retirement Board, 844 North Rush Street,
Chicago, Illinois 60611-2092.