To receive unemployment benefits you must apply for them and furnish information. Information that the RRB asks you to furnish is used to determine if you are eligible for benefits and the amount of benefits payable to you. Although furnishing information, including your social security number, is voluntary, the RRB cannot pay you benefits without this information. The RRB’s authority for requesting information is section 5(b) of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act.
The RRB may routinely furnish information from its records to the following individuals, organizations, and/or agencies to administer the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, the Social Security Act, or other benefit programs under Federal and State laws:
- The U.S. Treasury Department and the U.S. Postal Service, to issue benefit payments and to report non-delivery, forgery, theft, or loss of a benefit check.
- A person or company which the claimant reports may award pay for time lost or some similar payment for the same period for which the RRB pays benefits.
- Persons or companies named by the claimant as liable for paying damages for the same injury or illness for which the RRB pays sickness benefits.
- The Internal Revenue Service for use in administering Federal tax laws.
- A private collection agency, the Government Accountability Office, the Department of Justice, or the Internal Revenue Service for the collection of an overpayment.
- Employers or insurance companies for use in administering supplemental benefit plans.
- Law enforcement agencies and the Department of Justice for investigating or prosecuting a violation of law.
- Employers to verify entitlement to benefits and to provide notice of benefit payment determinations.
- State unemployment agencies to verify entitlement to benefits.
Other than information that may be disclosed routinely, no information about your claim may be disclosed without your consent.