--- kind: "section" citation: "45 U.S.C. § 231q" title: "45" title_heading: "Railroads" number: "231q" heading: "Crediting service under Social Security Act" release: "119-102" date: "2026-07-12" url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/45/231q" units: - "Chapter 9 — Retirement of Railroad Employees" - "Subchapter IV — Railroad Retirement Act of 1974" --- # §231q. Crediting service under Social Security Act - (1) Except as provided in subdivision (2), the term “[employment](/usc/45/231.md?p=o)” as defined in section 216 of the [Social Security Act](/usc/45/231.md?p=n) [[42 U.S.C. 416](/usc/42/416.md)] shall not include service performed by an individual as an [employee](/usc/45/231.md?p=b-1) as defined in [section 231(b) of this title](/usc/45/231.md?p=b). - (2) For the purpose of determining (i) monthly insurance benefits under the [Social Security Act](/usc/45/231.md?p=n) [[42 U.S.C. 301](/usc/42/301.md) et seq.] to an [employee](/usc/45/231.md?p=b-1) who will have completed less than ten [years of service](/usc/45/231.md?p=f-1) (or less than five [years of service](/usc/45/231.md?p=f-1), all of which accrues after December 31, 1995) and to others deriving from him or her during his or her life and (ii) monthly insurance benefits and lump-sum death benefits under such Act with respect to the death of an [employee](/usc/45/231.md?p=b-1) who (A) will have completed less than ten [years of service](/usc/45/231.md?p=f-1) (or less than five [years of service](/usc/45/231.md?p=f-1), all of which accrues after December 31, 1995) or (B) will have completed ten or more [years of service](/usc/45/231.md?p=f-1) (or five or more [years of service](/usc/45/231.md?p=f-1), all of which accrues after December 31, 1995) but will not have had a current connection with the railroad industry at the time of his death, and for the purposes of [section 203](/usc/42/203.md) and [section 216(i)](/usc/42/216.md) of that Act [[42 U.S.C. 403](/usc/42/403.md), 416(i)], section 210(a)(9) of the [Social Security Act](/usc/45/231.md?p=n) [[42 U.S.C. 410(a)(9)](/usc/42/410.md?p=a-9)] and subdivision (1) of this section shall not operate to exclude from “[employment](/usc/45/231.md?p=o)” under the [Social Security Act](/usc/45/231.md?p=n) service which would otherwise be included in such “[employment](/usc/45/231.md?p=o)” but for such sections. For such purpose, [compensation](/usc/45/231.md?p=h-1) paid in a calendar year shall, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, be presumed to have been paid in equal proportions with respect to all months in the year in which the [employee](/usc/45/231.md?p=b-1) will have been in service as an [employee](/usc/45/231.md?p=b-1). In the application of the [Social Security Act](/usc/45/231.md?p=n) pursuant to this subdivision to service as an [employee](/usc/45/231.md?p=b-1), all service as defined in [section 231(d) of this title](/usc/45/231.md?p=d) shall be deemed to have been performed within the [United States](/usc/45/231.md?p=m). ## Source credit (Aug. 29, 1935, ch. 812, § 18, as restated June 24, 1937, ch. 382, pt. I, 50 Stat. 307, as restated Pub. L. 93–445, title I, § 101, Oct. 16, 1974, 88 Stat. 1349; amended Pub. L. 97–35, title XI, § 1125, Aug. 13, 1981, 95 Stat. 639; Pub. L. 107–90, title I, § 103(g), Dec. 21, 2001, 115 Stat. 881.) ## Notes ### Editorial Notes ### References in Text The Social Security Act, referred to in par. (2), is act Aug. 14, 1935, ch. 531, 49 Stat. 620, which is classified generally to chapter 7 (§ 301 et seq.) of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 1305 of Title 42 and Tables. ### Amendments 2001—Par. (2). Pub. L. 107–90 inserted “(or less than five years of service, all of which accrues after December 31, 1995)” after “ten years of service” in two places and inserted “(or five or more years of service, all of which accrues after December 31, 1995)” after “ten or more years of service”. 1981—Par. (2). Pub. L. 97–35 inserted “and section 216(i)” after “203”. ### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries ### Effective Date of 2001 Amendment Amendment by Pub. L. 107–90 effective Jan. 1, 2002, see section 103(j) of Pub. L. 107–90, set out as a note under section 405 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. ### Effective Date of 1981 Amendment Amendment by Pub. L. 97–35 effective Jan. 1, 1975, see section 1129(b)(2) of Pub. L. 97–35, set out as a note under section 231 of this title.