45 U.S.C. § 231 — Definitions

(a) Employer (1) The term "employer" covers several kinds of businesses and groups connected to railroads. - It includes any railroad ("carrier by railroad") that the Surface Transportation Board regulates. - It includes any company owned or controlled by one of those railroads (or under common control with one), if that company handles transporting passengers or property by rail, or handles freight in connection with rail transport — for example receiving, delivering, storing, or icing goods. This does not include trucking companies or companies that only do casual work. - It includes any receiver, trustee, or other person or court body that is holding or running the property or business of one of those employers. - It includes railroad associations, traffic associations, tariff bureaus, demurrage bureaus, weighing and inspection bureaus, collection agencies, and similar groups — but only if two or more of the employers above mainly control and fund the group, and the group does work connected to railroad transportation. - It includes national railway labor unions organized under the Railway Labor Act, along with their state and national committees, insurance departments, and local lodges and divisions. (2) Some things are NOT "employers," even though they might otherwise qualify: - Companies engaged in coal mining, or in supplying coal to a railroad employer where the coal is delivered no farther than the mine tipple, are not employers for that equipment or activity. - Street, interurban, or suburban electric railways are not employers — unless the electric railway is part of a bigger diesel-powered railroad system. Being part of a diesel system doesn't disqualify other parts of that system that use different power. - If there's a dispute about whether an electric-powered line counts, the Surface Transportation Board must hold a hearing and decide — either when the Railroad Retirement Board asks, or when an interested party complains. (b) Employee (1) "Employee" means: someone working for one or more employers for pay; someone who has an "employment relation" with one or more employers (defined in part (d) below); or an employee representative (defined in part (c)). One exception: if someone works for a local lodge or division (which counts as an "employer"), they only count as an employee if they also worked for a real railroad-type employer on or after August 29, 1935. (2) "Employee" does not include someone doing the physical work of mining or preparing coal, or handling coal short of the mine tipple (unless moved by standard railroad locomotive), or loading coal at the tipple. (c) Employee representative This means an officer or official of a railway labor union — as long as that union itself doesn't count as an "employer" — who worked for a railroad-type employer before or after August 29, 1935, and who is properly authorized under the Railway Labor Act to represent employees. It also includes anyone regularly assigned to or employed by that officer to help with the job. (d) In the service of an employer (1) Someone is "in the service" of an employer, whether working inside or outside the U.S., if two things are both true. First, one of these: the employer has ongoing authority to supervise and direct how the person does the work; or the person does professional or technical work and is part of the employer's staff; or the person does personal-service work on the employer's property that is built into the employer's operations. Second, the person is paid for the work, or the pay can be calculated using the method in section 231b(j). (2) Special rules apply to employers that don't do most of their business in the United States (except local lodges/divisions and general committees of railway unions): - A person only counts as "in service" to such an employer for the time they actually work in the U.S. - A person counts as in service to a local lodge or division of such an employer only if almost all of that lodge's members work for a U.S.-based employer, or the lodge's headquarters is in the U.S. - A person counts as in service to a general committee of such an employer only if: they represent a lodge or division that qualifies under the rule just above; or almost everyone the committee represents works for a U.S.-based employer; or the person is a general or assistant general chairman representing people who work in the U.S. In that last case, if the chairman's office is outside the U.S. and most of the people represented work for a non-U.S.-based employer, only part of the pay counts as "compensation" — the same fraction as U.S. mileage under the committee's authority compared to its total mileage. If that mileage formula doesn't work, the Board can set a fair substitute. If the formula would count less than 10% of the pay, none of it counts as compensation. (3) A person who is not a U.S. citizen or resident does not count as "in service" to an employer while working outside the U.S., if the place where they work legally requires the employer to hire local citizens or residents there. For this rule, the law in that place as of August 29, 1935 counts as if it applied at all earlier times too. (e) In an "employment relation" on August 29, 1935 (1) Someone counts as having this relation on that date if any of these apply: - They were on an employer-approved leave of absence that date, and can prove it to the Board's satisfaction by July 1947. - They worked for an employer in at least six calendar months (not necessarily in a row) between August 29, 1935 and January 1946. - Before August 29, 1935, they hadn't retired, and weren't retired or fired — but they stopped working solely because of physical or mental disability, and stayed disabled until turning 65 or until August 1945; or solely because of that disability their old employer didn't call them back to work before August 1945; or if the employer did call them back, they still couldn't work the required six months solely because of the disability. - They were absent from work on August 29, 1935 because of a firing that they protested as wrongful within a year, and they were rehired in good faith with full seniority within ten years of being fired. (2) Even if one of those applies, a person does NOT count as having an employment relation on August 29, 1935 if: before that date they got a pension or gratuity that led to an award under the 1937 Railroad Retirement Act; or in their very last payroll period before that date they weren't actually "in service" under part (d) above; or the only way they could qualify was through service to a local lodge or division. (f) Years of service (1) "Years of service" counts the years someone worked for pay, or got pay for lost time, as computed under section 231b(i). Twelve calendar months of such work or pay — in a row or not — equal one year. Partial fractions of a year count at their real value, not rounded. (2) Service from before August 29, 1935 can sometimes count too (as section 231b(i)(3) allows), including: service to someone who was an employer on August 29, 1935, even if they weren't an employer back when the service happened; service to an express company, sleeping-car company, or railroad that was a predecessor of a company that was an employer on August 29, 1935; and service to someone who wasn't an employer, doing work with standard railroad equipment, as long as an actual employer did that same kind of work on August 29, 1935. (g) Military service and war periods (used in section 231b(i)(2)) (1) "Military service" means being commissioned or enrolled in the active U.S. land or naval forces, until resignation or discharge. Reserve-component service counts as active military service for any period actually served on active duty, even less than 30 days. (2) A "war service period" means: any "war period" (defined below); or, for a specific person, any time they had to keep serving in the military past the end of a war period, or had to enter and stay in military service because the President, Congress, or a related order required it; or any time after September 7, 1939 during a declared national emergency requiring stronger national defense. Also, June 15, 1948 through December 15, 1950 counts as a war service period for anyone who worked as a covered railroad employee — without other non-covered work in between — either the year they left active military service, or the next year. (3) A "war period" starts on the earliest of these: Congress declares war; Congress declares that a state of war exists; a foreign country declares war on the U.S.; the U.S. or its territory is invaded or attacked; or the U.S. engages in armed fighting to preserve the Union or keep a state's government republican. (4) A "war period" ends when the fighting stops. (h) Compensation (1) "Compensation" means money paid to someone for work as an employee or employee representative, including pay for lost time (which counts as earned in the month the time was lost). If an employer pays someone through its regular payroll, that payment is assumed to be pay for work done in that same period, unless shown otherwise. Pay earned before 1947 counts as paid in the month it was earned, no matter when it was actually paid. Pay earned after 1946 but paid later counts as paid in the year it was earned if the employer reports it that way by February 1 of the next year, or if the employee proves when it was earned. (2) Someone is "paid for time lost" for the amount an employer pays for a specific stretch of missed work — including missed work from a personal injury — and for the amount paid to make up for lower earnings after being moved to a lower-paying job. If an injury payment includes both time-lost pay and other things without separating them at the time of payment, the whole payment counts as time-lost pay. If part is clearly set aside for something else when paid, only the unset-aside part counts. (3) Cash tips count as compensation too — but only for figuring out compensation amounts, and only if the tips are $20 or more in a given month. (4) Tips count as "paid" either when the employee gives the employer a written tip statement (as required by tax law), or, if no statement is given, when the tips are actually received. Either way, the tips count as earned in the month the work was done. (5) When figuring compensation for months someone spent in military service that counts under section 231b(i)(2), extra compensation gets added on top of whatever else they were paid: $160 for each such month before 1968; $260 for each month from 1968 through 1974; and, for months after 1974, whatever counts as "wages" under Social Security Act section 209(d). (6) "Compensation" does NOT include: tips (except as allowed in part 3 above); pay to a nonresident alien temporarily in the U.S. on certain student or exchange visas, for work tied to that visa's purpose; pay for local-lodge or division service, in any month that pay is under $25; pay for serving as a delegate to a union convention, if the person has never otherwise done work that could count toward "years of service"; payments an employer makes — including insurance, annuities, or fund contributions — under a general benefit plan for employees (or a class of them), to cover sickness, accident, or medical/hospital costs; and money paid specifically as an advance, reimbursement, or allowance for real business travel expenses, as long as the employer clearly identifies it as separate from wages. (7) "Compensation" includes separation and subsistence allowances paid under a benefit schedule set up by section 701 of the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973, and termination allowances paid under section 702 of that Act — but not any other benefits under that part of the law. A subsistence allowance counts as earned in the month the employee first filed a timely claim for it. (8) For certain other sections (231b(a)(1), 231c(a)(1), and 231c(f)(1)), "compensation" also includes any payment from any source that is taxed under Internal Revenue Code section 3201 or 3211. (i) "Board" means the Railroad Retirement Board. (j) "Company" includes corporations, associations, and joint-stock companies. (k) "Employee" includes an officer of an employer. (l) "Person" means an individual, a partnership, an association, a joint-stock company, a corporation, or the United States or any other government body. (m) "United States," used geographically, means the States and the District of Columbia. (n) "Social Security Act" means that Act as it has been amended over time. (o) "Current connection with the railroad industry" — someone has this at the time their annuity starts, and at death, if: in the 30 calendar months right before the month their annuity starts (or the month they die, if that comes first), they worked as an employee in at least 12 of those months; AND, if those 30 months don't lead directly up to that month, they didn't have other regular work in the gap — other than work for a railroad employer, or for the Department of Transportation, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Surface Transportation Board, the National Mediation Board, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Alaska state-owned railroad (while it's run by the State of Alaska), or the Railroad Retirement Board. There are extra ways to have this "current connection," but only for certain other sections: For sections 231a(b) and 231a(d): someone who completed 25 years of service and then stopped railroad work involuntarily and without fault still counts, as long as they didn't turn down a same-class-or-craft job offer afterward. For section 231a(d) only: someone counts if a pension was payable to them under the 1937 Railroad Retirement Act, or if an annuity based on at least 10 years of service started before 1948 under that 1937 Act. Also for section 231a(d) only: someone with at least 10 years of service counts if either they wouldn't be fully or currently insured under Social Security counting their post-1936 railroad work as Social Security "employment," or they have no Social Security quarters of coverage at all. (p) "Annuity" means a monthly payment made on the first day of each month, for what built up the month before. (q) "Quarter" and "calendar quarter" mean a three-month period ending March 31, June 30, September 30, or December 31. (r) For this subchapter, a person counts as "permanently insured" under Social Security as of December 31, 1974 if they would be "fully insured" under Social Security Act section 214(a) once they turn 62 — based only on the Social Security quarters of coverage they earned before January 1, 1975.