3220-0070

OMB NO. 3220-0070

Justification

Employer Service and Compensation Reports

RRB Forms UI-41 and UI-41a

1. Circumstances of information collection - Section 2(c) of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA): (1) specifies the maximum normal unemployment and sickness benefits that may be paid in a benefit year, (2) provides for an extended benefit year for certain employees, and (3) allows for other employees to begin a benefit year early. The conditions for these actions are prescribed in 20 CFR 302.

2. Purposes of collecting/consequences of not collecting the information - All information about creditable railroad service and compensation needed by the RRB to administer section 2(c) is not always available from annual reports (OMB No. 3220-0008) filed by railroad employers with the RRB. When this occurs, the RRB uses the forms shown below to obtain, from railroad employers, supplemental information about service and compensation.

Form UI-41, Supplemental Report of Service and Compensation, is used to obtain information from railroad employers about service, compensation, and/or daily rates of pay occurring subsequent to information reported to the RRB on an annual report and which have been claimed by applicants for unemployment or sickness benefits on Form UI-23, Statement of Service for Railroad Unemployment Insurance Benefits (OMB No. 3220-0025), by letter, or in person.

The form is computer generated with the employee identifying information on the top portion of the form pre-filled by the RRB before release. In addition, the RRB checks the appropriate box(es) to indicate the type of compensation and/or service information required from the employer. The RRB also enters the months which the employee claims to have worked in a base year, as well as the appropriate monthly amount for each year over which the employer should not report. Completion of Form UI-41 is self-explanatory. The completed form is then returned to the RRB by mail.

The RRB proposes no changes to Form UI-41.

Form UI-41a, Supplemental Report of Compensation, is used to obtain compensation information supplementary to that already on record. In most cases, the information reported by railroad employers through the annual reporting process (OMB No. 3220-0008) is sufficient for determining eligibility for, and amounts of, unemployment and sickness benefits payable. For about 450 claimants annually, however, it is necessary to obtain information on compensation over the maximum monthly creditable amount $1,330 in 2010 and 2011, and $1,365 in 2012). In such cases, information is needed on monthly compensation at the base prescribed in section 2(c) of the RUIA ($1,718 in 2010 and 2011, and $1,763 in 2012). Form UI-41a secures this information.

The form is computer generated with the employee identifying information and the year for which the compensation information is needed pre-filled on the form. The person completing Form UI‑4la for the railroad employer enters, by month, the employee's total base year compensation (up to a maximum amount per month), his or her signature, title, and the date of completion.

The RRB proposes no changes to Form UI-41a.

To our knowledge, no other agency uses forms similar to UI-41 or UI-41a.

3. Planned use of improved information technology or technical/legal impediments to further burden reduction - N.A.

4. Efforts to identify duplication - This information collection does not duplicate any other information collection.

5. Small business respondents - N.A.

6. Consequences of less frequent collections - N.A.

7. Special circumstances - None

8. Consultations outside the agency - In accordance with 5 CFR 1320.8(d), comments were invited from the public regarding the information collection. The notice to the public was published on page 33133 of the June 3, 2013, Federal Register. No comments or requests for additional information were received.

9. Payments or gifts to respondents - None

10. Confidentiality - Privacy Act System of Records - RRB 21, Railroad Unemployment and Sickness Insurance Benefit System. In accordance with OMB Circular M-03-22, a Privacy Impact Assessment for this information collection was completed and can be found at http://www.rrb.gov/pdf/PIA/PIA-BPO.pdf.

11. Sensitive questions - None

12. Estimate of respondent burden - The estimated annual burden for this collection is changed as follows.

Current Burden

Form #	Responses	Time (Min)	Burden (Hrs)
UI-41	1,000	8	133
UI-41a	2,000	8	267
Total	3,000		400

Proposed Burden

Form #	Responses	Time (Min)	Burden (Hrs)
UI-41	350	8	47
UI-41a	100	8	13
Total	450		60

Responses Hours

Total Burden Change -2,550 -340

Program change -2,550 -340

13. Estimated annual cost to respondents or record keepers - N.A.

14. Estimate of cost to Federal Government - N.A.

15. Explanation for changes in burden - The burden for this information collection has been reduced due to the fact that employers are increasingly using their option of reporting the same data on Form BA-3 (OMB 3220-0008); resulting in a reduced number of occurrences where the data is needed but not previously reported. The data, however, is an optional reporting item on Form BA-3, requiring the continued use of Forms UI-41 and UI-41a. We have shown the decrease in burden hours as a program change.

16. Time schedule for data collection - The results of this collection will not be published.

17. Request not to display OMB expiration date - The forms associated with this collection are seldom revised. Given the costs associated with redrafting, reprinting, and distributing the forms in order to keep the appropriate expiration date in place, the RRB requests the authority to not display the OMB expiration date on the forms.

18. Exceptions to Certification Statement - None

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