Chapter 4c: Form ID-4K, Prepayment Notice of Employee's Applications and Claims for Benefits under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act
ID-4K Notices
Form ID-4K, Prepayment Notice of Employee's Applications and Claims for Benefits under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act is released by the RRB to employers to notify them that their employees have filed an unemployment application, unemployment claim, or sickness claim with the RRB.
Notice that ID-4K and ID-4E notices are on ERS
The ID-4K notices will appear in the New Items list until they are worked and submitted; released or deleted by a user; or are automatically deleted by the system. The ID-4K will be deleted after 3 business. Authorized ID-4K users are required to record an e-mail address when they file Form BA-12 to receive access to the ERS system. The authorized person will receive an e-mail message when the RRB places an ID-4K notice on ERS. Users can edit their e-mail address by selecting “Edit My Account” from the ERS menu.
Review ID-4K Notices
The ID-4K notices can be reviewed directly from the New Items list. To view all of the columns in the list, users may have to scroll to the right or left border of the list. Claims can be released for payment and deleted directly from the listing by clicking the appropriate SSN link. This action will take the user to a new screen. See the section “ID-4K, Provide additional information” for information on completing this screen.
Sorting Items
Users may wish to locate a specific employee or see the forms from a specific date. Users can sort the ID-4K listings by any of the subject headings. To sort a column, click the column heading. To invert the sort, (for example a-z when inverted is z-a) click again. If looking for a particular case, be sure to sort the listing even if the items already appear to be sorted. The default sorting is SSN within processing date, which could be deceiving.
Completed Items List
All of the ID-4K records handled each day will be “deleted” from the New Items list and moved to the Completed Items list. They will remain in this area until 5:00pm CST when the RRB pulls the records into their system.
If a user determines that a mistake needs to be corrected or any previously entered information needs to be changed, he/she can go to the Completed Items list before 5:00pm CST and click on the “X” next to the appropriate record. This action will “un-delete” the record and move the record back to the ID-4K New Items list. Once the record has been restored to this area, the user can click on the SSN link and enter the correct information on the notice. Then select the “Submit' button to resubmit your correct case.
General Screen Items
ID-4K, Prepayment Notices will remain on the ERS system for three business days from the date of the notice. If no action is taken, the ID-4K will drop off the system and the RRB will pay the claims.
When the user clicks the ID-4K link under the New Items menu you will see all the new ID-4Ks that have been loaded to ERS for your employees. Users will have the option to work the individual records by clicking on the link to the employee's social security number or work on multiple records by using the following options:
- Select All;
- OK to Pay Marked Items; or
- Download Marked Items.
ID-4K, Select All Button
The “Select All” button is provided to enable the user to handle multiple items at the same time. It will select every item in the listing that is visible on the page. ERS will default to show the records in blocks of ten. To view the selected items, scroll to the bottom of the listing and click the “Show All” link. If the user selects this view, he/she may have to scroll to the bottom of the listing to see all the records. After selecting all the items, the user is able to choose “OK to Pay Marked Items” or “Download Marked Items”.
If “Select All” is clicked by mistake, individual items can be deselected. If the list is very long, the user may need to click the button again to deselect the entire list.
ID-4K, OK-to-Pay Button
The ID-4K listing includes an action, “OK to Pay Marked Items.” This is to assist the user in quickly handling specific claims. This feature allows claims to be released prior to three business days. Review the entire list and select the cases where it is OK for the RRB to pay benefits by clicking on the check box in front of the record; and then click the “OK to Pay Marked Items” button. This will remove all those claims from the “New Items” and “New Items” lists and release the claims to the RRB for payment. The records left on the New Items list will be claims which users want to dispute or submit additional information.
The records marked “OK to Pay” and any others completed that day will also be moved to the “Completed Items” list. They will remain in this area until 5:00pm CST when the RRB pulls the records into their system.
ID-4K, Download Marked Items
Generally, ID-4K reply information will be entered directly to the Internet form and the download feature will not be used. The download feature will copy the selected ID-4K requests to the user's PC in a specific location. This feature is intended to aid employers in creating a reply file for a group of ID-4K records so they can reply to multiple notices at the same time. At this time there is no process by which you can upload the reply file from your PC to the ERS ID-4K reply screens. It will be necessary for users to submit a file to the RRB through a secure and timely method such as Secure e-mail or a file transfer (FTP) process.
Important Download Note
If users choose to download the ID-4K notices to a PC file, rather than using the ERS screens, they will no longer be allowed to process the downloaded notices through ERS. Downloading the notices moves the records from the “New Items' list to the “Completed Items” list. They will remain in this area until 5:00pm CST when the RRB deletes the records from the ERS system.
It must also be noted that if replies for the downloaded records are not received and processed timely (3 business days) the RRB will pay the claims. The employers will be required to protest the benefit payments by submitting information on the ID-4E, Notice of RUIA Claim Determinations.
How to Download New ID-4K Notices
Review the entire list and select the cases to be downloaded by clicking on the check box in front of the record or by clicking the “Select All” button; and then click the “Download Marked Items” button.
Follow the screen instructions. A pop-up box will appear that asks the user “Do you want to open or save this file?” Click “Save”; then select a location and file name. If users click “Open,” the text file will open and it can be viewed. The user must then click on “File”; “Save As” and then select the location and choose the file name. When users open the saved file, it will be displayed as a line of text in the following format:
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Record Length
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Tape Position
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Data
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78 characters
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1-4
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Four-digit BA number
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5-7
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Application type
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8-16
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Employees' social security number
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17-37
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Employees' Name
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38-47
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Payroll ID number
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48-53
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Date Last Worked (yymmdd)
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54-55
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Reason Code
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56-61
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Claim Beg. Date (yymmdd)
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62-75
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14 Day Claim Period
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76-78
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Field Office Number
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Downloaded Records Completed
The records that were downloaded and any others completed that day will also be moved from the “New Items” and “New Items” lists to the “Completed Items” list. They will remain in this area until 5:00pm CST when the RRB pulls the records into their system. The records left on the New Items list will be claims which users want to dispute or submit additional information through the Internet process.
ID-4K, Providing Additional Information
If the user wants to provide information on a claim, click the SSN link. This brings up a reply screen with many options for sending the RRB information. If the claim is for unemployment benefits and the individual was paid for any days in the claim period, also enter the earnings, both actual and potential, in the appropriate box. This information is needed for the earnings test. You cannot report only a payment. At least one day code is required. Please note that earnings do not apply to sickness claims.
Each day in the claim period has a code to identify whether or not benefits are being claimed for that day. For a complete list and explanation of the claim codes, click the “Day Codes” link on the screen.
The users can provide information related to all days or specific days in a claim period. The reply codes are listed in the drop-down menus for each day. There are also separate lists of reply codes for “received pay” and “received no pay”. For example, if the claimant claimed benefits for a day for which he/she received vacation pay, click on the drop down menu for the day, and select “Vacation Pay (VC).” In this example the user should also enter the amount of earnings that would have been paid in the “Earnings” box. If one code applies to all days in the claim period, click the far left drop down menu, select the code, and click the apply button. That code will then be applied to all 14 days. Users can also go back and change individual days by clicking the appropriate drop down button on each individual day code.
Users may use the “Additional Information” box at the bottom of the screen to explain codes entered on a claim; however you cannot enter more than 110 characters of information. For example, if the user entered a code showing that the claimant received other pay on a day, he/she might explain in the text box that the claimant was attending training that day.
For additional instructions, refer to the Rail Employer Reporting Instructions in Part VI, Chapter 10.
ID-4K, Submit Your Reply
When the user is finished entering information about the claim, he/she should click the “Send Reply” button. This will transmit the information to the RRB. Once the information is received by the RRB, the district office listed on the ERS system will be responsible for handling the request. Any further communication about this claim should be addressed to that office. The phone number is provided on the ERS screen. In order to obtain the office mailing address or e-mail address, go to the general RRB website at RRB.GOV and click Agency Management & Reports on the left menu and then click Field Offices.
The completed records will also be moved to the “Completed Items” list. They will remain in this area until 5:00pm CST when the RRB pulls the records into their system.
ID-4K, Application, Providing Additional Information
In order to provide information on an application, click the SSN link to open the record. Users can enter both information about the employee's status by clicking the drop down arrow to select the appropriate code and the status effective date.
If the employee received a guarantee payment, enter the amount; payment frequency; and beginning and ending dates. Users can also enter remarks in the additional information section at the bottom of the screen. For example, if the ID-4K is based on an unemployment application and it is known that the claimant is sick and unable to work; you would provide that information in the “Additional Information” text box.
ID-4K, Contact Information
The contact information is pre-filled from information about the specific user recorded in ERS which was submitted on Form BA-12. The contact person cannot be changed by typing over the pre-filled information. If the user wants the RRB to contact their manager or someone else with any questions about this claim or application, enter their name, e-mail address, and telephone number in the “Additional Information” box. To change contact information for all purposes, users must go to “Edit My Account.”
Corrections to the contact information can be made in the same manner by going to “Edit My Account.” If there is an error in the contact information, it might be advantageous to cancel out of the ID-4K, make the correction, and then access the ID-4K again. At that time, the correct contact information should be displayed.
ID-4K Summary Report
If a response or protest is submitted based on receipt of an ID-4K, the information will appear in the summary report. The report is organized by calendar month of the reply. Information for the report is retained for six months after the end of the calendar year. If users need the data longer than this, print a copy of the report or download the information to a file.
Create a Report
When the user selects the ID-4K Summary under the Reports menu, this opens a selection screen. In order to receive a report of 1) all available replies, 2) sorted by SSN, and 3) including full text replies, click the Submit button as these are the three default selections.
Customize a Report
There are three ways that users can customize their report and they are numbered 1, 2, and 3 on the report selection screen. First, users can select a specific report of ID-4Ks only; and select a specific quarter or month from the drop-down menu. Second, users can change the sort to something other than SSN by highlighting the field under “Sort Options” and then clicking the “Add” button. For example, if users wanted the report sorted by surname, highlight “name” and then click Add. This moves “name” to the right box. Users can also choose a secondary sort, such as submit date. This may be helpful if he/she replied to several claims for the same person during the report period. Third, users can choose whether or not they want to see the text of their replies. If only the employee and claim information are needed, save space by de-selecting “full text replies”.
Print or Save Reports to a PC
When users click the submit button, the report is displayed on the screen. The type is quite small and may be hard to read. We suggest using the buttons at the top of the screen to print or save the report. The report prints horizontally and will be much easier to read than the screen display. If users save the report to a file, the files can be manipulated for better display or imported to a spreadsheet or database.