Purpose of Form BA-6a
Employee address records are maintained for the purpose of mailing to the employee Form BA-6, Certificate of Service Months and Compensation. This report is due by April 1 each year.
Employers are required to file Form BA-6a, "Form BA-6 Address Report" with the RRB if they have hired new employees. If you have no new hires, no address report is necessary.
New and Expanded Fields
The field sizes for the address report have been expanded and a new date field (Effective Date) has been added to help ensure that we have the most current information on the employee's record. You can now submit the employee's full name and middle initial. We will be able to accept up to 20 characters of the surname; and 15 characters of the first name.
Detailed instructions for completing Form BA-6 are located on the form
Report Current Employee Address Changes
Employers may also include the address changes of current employees on the form as well; this is optional. The new date field for the address will enhance the RRB's acceptance of changes of address. The effective date will allow the RRB to evaluate the address change submitted by the employer against changes-of-address received from other sources such as the US Postal Service and the employee; and use the most current one received.
Employee Reports Change of Address
Even though the employer may submit address changes to the RRB via BA-6a, it is still the employee's responsibility to report any address changes. Instructions for employees to report address changes are on the employee's Form BA-6, Certificate of Service Months and Compensation. An employee can also report an address change to their local RRB office.
Reporting Media
Addresses for new hires and address changes for current employees may be reported on:
- Paper Form BA-6a, Form BA-6 Address Report (See Exhibits);
- Magnetic media (See Form BA-6a format in Appendix I);
- Computer listing. (The computer listing should include the fields from the paper form in the same order and should identify the tape positions at the top of each field column.);
- Employer Reporting System (ERS) on the Internet (See Part VIII);
- Secure Email;
- File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
Please See Part V, Chapter 1 for more information on filing options.
Incorrect Addresses
Should the U.S. Postal Service return Form BA-6, Certificate of Service Months and Compensation to the RRB, we will attempt to secure an accurate address. The RRB uses address information from the postal service and telephone directories. If the RRB is unsuccessful in securing a valid address, we will contact the employer for assistance.