BA-4 (Electronic E Report of Creditable Compensation Adjustments

Employer Reporting Instructions
Appendix I: Electronic File Format
Form BA-4, Report of Creditable Compensation Adjustments
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. The information is authorized for
collection under OMB control number 3220-0008.
This report is due at the Railroad Retirement Board no later than the last day of February
following the report year. 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 versions of this form transmitted by secure email or File
Transfer Protocol (FTP) takes an average of 1 hour per response to complete, including
time for reviewing the instructions, getting the needed data, and reviewing the completed
form. 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 form,
including suggestions for reducing completion time, to Associate Chief Information
Officer for Policy and Compliance, Railroad Retirement Board, 844 North Rush Street,
Chicago, IL 60611-1275.
The tables below explain the electronic file format for reports filed on CD-ROM, FTP,
secure email, or an upload on ERSNet. For information about the data to be entered, refer
to Part V, Chapter 4 of the Rail Employer or Labor Employer Reporting Instructions.
NOTE: Reports submitted on CD-ROM, secure email, or FTP must be accompanied by
Form G-440, Report Specifications Sheet.

Record Length
Money Fields
Numeric Fields
Service and
Compensation

Totals Record

Report Specifications
200 Characters
All money fields include two cent positions and no
decimal point. No fields should be signed. Fill out
money fields with zeros.
Fill out all numeric fields with zeros to the left of the
significant digits.
There should be no record which contains neither service
nor compensation data. A record may contain only
service months or only compensation, but must contain
one or the other.
Every electronic file report should include a grand-totals
record at the end. The specific format is in the appendix.
Optional subtotal records may be included.

Employer Reporting Instructions
Appendix I: Electronic File Format
Form BA-4, Report of Creditable Compensation Adjustments
Form BA-4 Record Format
Field
Record
Data and Instructions
Length Position
1

1

Blank

4

2-5

Four-digit year being reported.

1

6

Code "4" for an increase adjustment.
Code "M" for a decrease adjustment.

4

7-10

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

10

11-20

Blank Filler.

9

21-29

Employee's social security number.

20

30-49

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

15

50-64

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

1

65

Employee’s middle initial.

7

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.

2

73-74

Blank Filler.

7

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.

2

82-83

Blank Filler.

84-95

84-Jan.
85-Feb.
86-March
87-April
88-May
89-June
90-July
91-August
92-Sept.
93-Oct.
94-Nov.
95-Dec.

12

Service Month Detail – All of the employment
relation codes for non-worked months available on
Form BA-3, Annual Report of Creditable
Compensation, cannot be used on this adjustment
report. Only use the following codes:
Code 1 = worked
Code 0 = not worked & employment relation unknown
NOTE: All 12 positions must be filled.

Employer Reporting Instructions
Appendix I: Electronic File Format
Form BA-4, Report of Creditable Compensation Adjustments
Form BA-4 Record Format
Field
Record
Length Position

Data and Instructions

2

96-97

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

8

98-105

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

2

106-107

Blank Filler.

8

108-115

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

2

116-117

Blank Filler.

5

118-122

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

2

123-124

Blank Filler.

8

125-132

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

2

133-134

Blank Filler.

8

135-142

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

58

143-200

Blank Filler (For future expansion).

NOTE: The file should be saved as a text (*.txt) file with the record format listed above.