Verification of Railroad Unemployment and Sickness Claims

RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD

Verification of Railroad Unemployment and Sickness Claims

AGENCY: Railroad Retirement Board.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is announcing a change in

the number of days provided for railroad employers to submit

information about claims for unemployment and sickness benefits prior

to the agency's decision to pay or deny benefits. For a one-year

period, employers will be allowed 3 business days, rather than 7

calendar days, from the date of the RRB's notice of a claim to submit

information about the claim before the agency decides to pay or deny

benefits. For purposes of this action, a ``business day'' is defined as

any of the days Monday through Friday which are not observed as

official holidays by the United States Government.

DATES: The test program announced by this notice will commence January

2, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments concerning this action may be submitted within 30

days from the date of publication to John L. Thoresdale, Director of

Unemployment and Sickness Insurance, Railroad Retirement Board, 844

North Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

John L. Thoresdale, Director of Unemployment and Sickness Insurance,

Railroad Retirement Board, 844 North Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois

60611, 312-751-4800.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 5(b) of the Railroad Unemployment

Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. 355(b)) provides, in part, that ``When a claim

for benefits is filed with the Board, the Board shall provide notice of

such claim to the claimant's base year employer or employers and afford

such employer or employers an opportunity to submit information

relevant to the claim before making an initial determination on the

claim.'' Section 3256 of the Board's regulations authorize the

establishment of procedures to obtain information about benefit claims

from railroad employers. These procedures have allowed employers 7

calendar days for submission of information before the RRB decides to

pay or deny benefits.

The Joint Committee on Rail Labor and Rail Management recently

requested the RRB to reduce the time period allowed for employers to

respond to notices of claims from 7 days to 3 days. At the conclusion

of the test period, the Board will determine whether to implement the

3-day verification period for the future.

Dated: November 8, 1995.

By Authority of the Board.

Beatrice Ezerski,

Secretary to the Board.

[FR Doc. 95-28670 Filed 11-22-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7905-01-M