Enter Employee Data
Under the Forms menu, click BA-4. This brings up a screen where you enter the identifying information of the employee. Each BA-4 is a separate action. If the information you entered matches a record in the RRB database, the BA-4 screen will appear with the employee's service and compensation information pre-filled. Otherwise you will receive a message telling you there is no matching record as described below.
No Matching Record
An employer cannot decrease service and compensation for an employee when there is no record that that employer ever reported service and compensation for that employee in that year. Therefore, we initially match the name and year that you entered, along with the BA number associated with your logon, to a record in our database. If a complete match is not found, a message will appear to that effect and ask if you want to continue with this account. If you choose to continue, you are limited to filing an increase.
There are three basic reasons why there may be no matching RRB record.
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Problem
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Solution
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- You typed employee SSN, name, or year incorrectly
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Type over the incorrect information and resubmit.
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- The employee was omitted from the annual report and you are correcting the omission with a BA-4
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Choose the continue option. The BA-4 screen will appear with identifying information pre-filled.
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- Note: If you omitted a first-year employee, you may type the full surname on the BA-4 screen. The name will not be posted to our master records until verified by SSA, but will appear correctly on this site and reports.
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- The original BA-3 report was filed under a BA number that does not agree with the BA number associated with your logon but is a related company
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If this occurred because of a merger or acquisition, and it is an increase adjustment, select "Continue with this account." For other situations, telephone QRSC for advice.
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Enter Service and Compensation Data
The BA-4 screen will display the RRB record for the employee you are adjusting. Use this information to determine the correct adjustment. First select increase or decrease by clicking the appropriate radial button. To increase or decrease service months, click the buttons for the individual months. Enter the adjusted compensation amounts in the 'Adjustment Amt' boxes. The system will calculate the new totals and display them under 'New Amt.'
Increase and Decrease Adjustment for Same Employee
You can process an increase and decrease adjustment for the same employee and year but you cannot process two or more increases or two or more decreases at the same time. It is expected that you will combine the multiple increases (or multiple decreases) into a single adjustment. When an adjustment already exists on the ERS system for the employee and year that you select, the system will alert to the existence of the prior adjustment.
System Edits of Your Data
When you enter an amount in a BA-4 adjustment field and press the Tab key, the screen will calculate the new amount and display it. When you press the Update key, the screen will edit the amounts. You will receive an error message if the new amount is over the maximum (See note in Getting Started) or less than zero or the new Tier amounts are not in correct relation. When you close the error message, the cursor will be at the field that requires correction.
BA-4 Adjustment Outside Statute Of Limitations
Completion of this section is optional and applies only if the service and compensation year is more than four years prior to the current year. If the report year is more than four years prior to the current year and the report is being filed timely based on the payment date, indicate the type of payment by clicking the appropriate button. For a definition of the types of payments refer to Part IV.
Process Buttons
There are three buttons at the bottom of the BA-4 screen:
- Update - click this to process the completed BA-4.
- Reset - click this to clear your entries (pre-filled data will remain.)
- Cancel - click this to exit the BA-4 process without filing a BA-4.
After a form has been updated, a user with approval authority will see two additional buttons.
- Approve - click this to certify and file the BA-4 form with the RRB.
- Delete - click this to delete the BA-4 form from the system. If a form is deleted, no record of it exists. The form cannot be recalled or re-instated. A user with Approval access, can change any data on a BA-4 but for security reasons, the BA-4 must be updated again before it can be approved.