§363a. Refunds of State unemployment contributions by employees; amount; application period; definitions — Inbound Citations
45 U.S.C. § 363a
Cited by 32 provisions in release 119-102.
Citations to §363a(b)(2)
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(p) The term “account” means the railroad unemployment insurance account established pursuant to section 360 of this title in the unemployment trust fund.
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(q) The term “fund” means the railroad unemployment insurance administration fund, established pursuant to section 361 of this title in the unemployment trust fund.
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(a) The Secretary of the Treasury shall maintain in the unemployment trust fund established pursuant to section 1104 of title 42 an account to be known as the railroad unemployment insurance account. This account shall consist of (i) such part of all contributions collected pursuant to section 358 of this title as is in excess of 0.65 per centum of the total compensation on which such contributions are based, together with all interest collected pursuant to section 358(g)1 of this title; (ii) all amounts transferred or paid into the account pursuant to section 363 or section 364 of this title; (iii) all additional amounts appropriated to the account in accordance with any provision of this chapter or with any provision of law now or hereafter adopted; (iv) a proportionate part of the earnings of the unemployment trust fund, computed in accordance with the provisions of section 1104(e) of title 42; (v) all amounts realized in recoveries for overpayments or erroneous payments of benefits; (vi) all amounts transferred thereto pursuant to section 361 of this title; (vii) all fines or penalties collected pursuant to the provisions of this chapter; and (viii) all amounts credited thereto pursuant to section 352(f) or section 362(g) of this title. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all moneys credited to the account shall be mingled and undivided, and are permanently appropriated to the Board to be continuously available to the Board without further appropriation, for the payment of benefits and refunds under this chapter, and no part thereof shall lapse at any time, or be carried to the surplus fund or any other fund.
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(a) The Secretary of the Treasury shall maintain in the unemployment trust fund established pursuant to section 904 of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 1104] an account to be known as the railroad unemployment insurance administration fund. This unemployment insurance administration fund shall consist of (i) such part of all contributions collected pursuant to section 358 of this title as equals 0.65 per centum of the total compensation on which such contributions are based; (ii) all amounts advanced to the fund by the Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to this section; (iii) all amounts appropriated by subsection (b) of this section; and (iv) such additional amounts as Congress may appropriate for expenses necessary or incidental to administering this chapter. Such additional amounts are authorized to be appropriated.
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(d) The Social Security Board shall withhold from certification to the Secretary of the Treasury for payment the amounts determined by it pursuant to section 502(a) of title 42 to be necessary for the proper administration of each State’s unemployment-compensation law, until an amount equal to its “preliminary amount” plus interest from July 1, 1939, at 2½ per centum per annum on such portion thereof as has not been used as the measure for withholding certification for payment, has been so withheld from certification pursuant to this paragraph: Provided, however, That if a State shall, prior to whichever is the later of (i) thirty days after the close of the first regular session of its legislature which begins after the approval of this chapter, and (ii) July 1, 1939, authorize and direct the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer from its account in the unemployment trust fund to the railroad unemployment insurance account in the unemployment trust fund an amount equal to its “preliminary amount”, no amount shall be withheld from certification for payment to such State pursuant to this paragraph.The Social Security Board shall withhold from certification to the Secretary of the Treasury for payment the amounts determined by it pursuant to section 502(a) of title 42 to be necessary for the proper administration of each State’s unemployment compensation law, until an amount equal to its “liquidating amount” plus interest from January 1, 1940, at 2½ per centum per annum on such portion thereof as has not been used as the measure for withholding certification for payment has been so withheld from certification pursuant to this paragraph: Provided, however, That if a State shall, prior to whichever is the later of (i) thirty days after the close of the first regular session of its legislature which begins after the approval of this chapter, and (ii) January 1, 1940, authorize and direct the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer from its account in the unemployment trust fund to the railroad unemployment insurance account in the unemployment trust fund an amount equal to its “liquidating amount”, no amount shall be withheld from certification for payment to such State pursuant to this paragraph.The withholdings from certification directed in each of the foregoing paragraphs of this subsection shall begin with respect to each State when the Social Security Board finds that such State is unable to avail itself of the condition set forth in the proviso contained in such paragraph: Provided, however, That if the Social Security Board finds with respect to any State that such State (1) is unable to avail itself of such conditions solely by reason of prohibitions contained in the constitution of such State, as determined by a decision of the highest court of such State declaring invalid in whole or in part the action of the legislature of the State purporting to provide for transfers from the State’s account in the Unemployment Trust Fund to the railroad unemployment insurance account, and (2) for similar reasons is unable to use amounts withdrawn from its account in the Unemployment Trust Fund for the payment of expenses incurred in the administration of its State unemployment compensation law, the Social Security Board shall not begin to withhold from certification to the Secretary of the Treasury for payment to such State the amounts determined by it pursuant to section 502 of title 42 and to certify to the Secretary of the Treasury for payment into the railroad unemployment insurance account the amount so withheld from such State until July 1, 1944, or until a date one hundred and eighty days after the adjournment of the first session of the legislature of such State beginning after July 1, 1942, whichever date is the earlier, and then only if the Social Security Board finds that such State had not prior thereto effectively authorized and directed the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer from such State’s account in the Unemployment Trust Fund to the railroad unemployment insurance account amounts equal to such State’s “preliminary amount” and “liquidating amount” less such parts thereof, if any, as the State may have, within the periods set forth in the provisos contained in the first two paragraphs of this subsection, effectively authorized and directed the Secretary of the Treasury so to transfer, plus interest on such difference, if any, with respect to each amount, at 2½ per centum per annum from the date the State’s “preliminary amount” or “liquidating amount”, as the case may be, is determined by the Social Security Board; and with respect to any such State the amount withheld shall equal the State’s “preliminary amount” and “liquidating amount” less such parts thereof, if any, as the State may have, within the periods set forth in the provisos contained in the first two paragraphs of this subsection effectively authorized and directed the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer, plus interest from July 1, 1939, at 2½ per centum per annum on so much of the “preliminary amount” and “liquidating amount”, as the case may be, as has not been so transferred or has not been used as the measure for withholding. An enactment of any State legislature providing for the transfer (from the State’s account in the Unemployment Trust Fund to the railroad unemployment insurance account) of all interest earned upon contributions which are collected with respect to employment occurring after such enactment by such State pursuant to its unemployment compensation law and credited to its account in the Unemployment Trust Fund (until the total of such transfers equals the amounts which otherwise would be required to be withheld from certification under this subsection), shall be deemed an effective authorization and direction to the Secretary of the Treasury as required by this subsection; and for purposes of computing the interest to be so transferred, amounts withdrawn by such State from its account in the Unemployment Trust Fund after the date of such State enactment shall be considered to be first charged against the amounts credited to such State’s account prior to the date of such State enactment: Provided, however, That if at any time after such enactment the provision for transfer therein contained for any reason fails to be operative to effect the transfers of interest as therein prescribed, and such State has not otherwise made an effective authorization and direction to the Secretary of the Treasury as required by this subsection, the Social Security Board shall immediately after such failure or, on the date otherwise provided in this subsection for the beginning of withholdings from certification, whichever is later, begin to make the withholdings from certification provided for in this subsection in the same manner and to the same extent as if such enactment by such State had not been enacted, except that the amounts of the certifications withheld shall be reduced by the total amount, if any, which has been transferred from interest pursuant to such enactment.
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(e) The transfers described in the provisos contained in the several paragraphs of subsection (d) of this section shall not be deemed to constitute a breach of the conditions set forth in sections 503(a)(5) and 1103(a)(4) of title 42; nor shall the withdrawal by a State from its account in the unemployment trust fund of amounts, but not to exceed the total amount the Social Security Board shall have withheld from certification with respect to such State pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, be deemed to constitute a breach of the conditions set forth in sections 503(a)(5) and 1103(a)(4) of title 42, provided the moneys so withdrawn are expended solely for expenses which the Social Security Board determines to be necessary for the proper administration of such State’s unemployment compensation law.
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(f) The Social Security Board is authorized and directed to certify to the Secretary of the Treasury for payment, and the Secretary shall pay, into the railroad unemployment insurance account, such amounts as the Social Security Board withholds from certification pursuant to subsection (d) of this section and the appropriations authorized in section 501 of title 42 shall be available for payments authorized by this subsection. The Secretary shall transfer from the account of a State in the unemployment trust fund to the railroad unemployment insurance account in the unemployment trust fund such amounts as the State authorizes and directs him so to transfer pursuant to subsection (d) of this section.
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The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to transfer from the account of the District of Columbia in the unemployment trust fund to the railroad unemployment insurance account in the unemployment trust fund, an amount equal to the “preliminary amount” and an amount equal to the “liquidating amount”, whenever such amounts, respectively, have been determined, with respect to the District of Columbia, pursuant to section 363 of this title.
Citations to §363a(b)(3)
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(e) An individual is in the service of an employer whether his service is rendered within or without the United States if (i) he is subject to the continuing authority of the employer to supervise and direct the manner of rendition of his service, or he is rendering professional or technical services and is integrated into the staff of the employer, or he is rendering, on the property used in the employer’s operations, other personal services the rendition of which is integrated into the employer’s operations, and (ii) he renders such service for compensation: Provided, however, That an individual shall be deemed to be in the service of an employer, other than a local lodge or division or a general committee of a railway-labor-organization employer, not conducting the principal part of its business in the United States only when he is rendering service to it in the United States; and an individual shall be deemed to be in the service of such a local lodge or division only if (1) all, or substantially all, the individuals constituting its membership are employees of an employer conducting the principal part of its business in the United States; or (2) the headquarters of such local lodge or division is located in the United States; and an individual shall be deemed to be in the service of such a general committee only if (1) he is representing a local lodge or division described in clauses (1) or (2) immediately above; or (2) all, or substantially all, the individuals represented by it are employees of an employer conducting the principal part of its business in the United States; or (3) he acts in the capacity of a general chairman or an assistant general chairman of a general committee which represents individuals rendering service in the United States to an employer, but in such case if his office or headquarters is not located in the United States and the individuals represented by such general committee are employees of an employer not conducting the principal part of its business in the United States, only such proportion of the remuneration for such service shall be regarded as compensation as the proportion which the mileage in the United States under the jurisdiction of such general committee bears to the total mileage under its jurisdiction, unless such mileage formula is inapplicable, in which case the Board may prescribe such other formula as it finds to be equitable, and if the application of such mileage formula, or such other formula as the Board may prescribe, would result in the compensation of the individual being less than 10 per centum of his remuneration for such service no part of such remuneration shall be regarded as compensation: Provided further, That an individual not a citizen or resident of the United States shall not be deemed to be in the service of an employer when rendering service outside the United States to an employer who is required under the laws applicable in the place where the service is rendered to employ therein, in whole or in part, citizens or residents thereof.
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(f) The term “employee representative” means any officer or official representative of a railway labor organization other than a labor organization included in the term employer as defined in subsection (a) who before or after August 29, 1935, was in the service of an employer as defined in said subsection and who is duly authorized and designated to represent employees in accordance with the Railway Labor Act [45 U.S.C. 151 et seq.], and any individual who is regularly assigned to or regularly employed by such officer or official representative in connection with the duties of his office.
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(k) Subject to the provisions of section 354 of this title (1) a day of unemployment, with respect to any employee, means a calendar day on which he is able to work and is available for work and with respect to which (i) no remuneration is payable or accrues to him, and (ii) he has, in accordance with such regulations as the Board may prescribe, registered at an employment office; and (2) a “day of sickness”, with respect to any employee, means a calendar day on which because of any physical, mental, psychological, or nervous injury, illness, sickness, or disease he is not able to work, or, with respect to a female employee, a calendar day on which, because of pregnancy, miscarriage, or the birth of a child, (i) she is unable to work or (ii) working would be injurious to her health, and with respect to which (i) no remuneration is payable or accrues to him, and (ii) in accordance with such regulations as the Board may prescribe, a statement of sickness is filed within such reasonable period, not in excess of ten days, as the Board may prescribe: Provided, however, That “subsidiary remuneration”, as hereinafter defined in this subsection, shall not be considered remuneration for the purpose of this subsection except with respect to an employee whose base-year compensation, exclusive of earnings from the position or occupation in which he earned such subsidiary remuneration, is less than an amount that is equal to 2.5 times the monthly compensation base for months in such base year as computed under subsection (i) of this section: Provided further, That remuneration for a working day which includes a part of each of two consecutive calendar days shall be deemed to have been earned on the first of such two days, and any individual who takes work for such working day shall not by reason thereof be deemed not available for work on the second of such calendar days: Provided further, That any calendar day on which no remuneration is payable to or accrues to an employee solely because of the application to him of mileage or work restrictions agreed upon in schedule agreements between employers and employees or solely because he is standing by for or laying over between regularly assigned trips or tours of duty shall not be considered either a day of unemployment or a day of sickness.For the purpose of this subsection, the term “subsidiary remuneration” means, with respect to any employee, remuneration not in excess of an average of $15 a day for the period with respect to which such remuneration is payable or accrues, if the work from which the remuneration is derived (i) requires substantially less than full time as determined by generally prevailing standards, and (ii) is susceptible of performance at such times and under such circumstances as not to be inconsistent with the holding of normal full-time employment in another occupation.
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(a) Claims for benefits and appeals from determinations with respect thereto shall be made in accordance with such regulations as the Board shall prescribe. Each employer shall post and maintain, in places readily accessible to employees in his service, such printed statements concerning such regulations as the Board supplies to him for such purpose, and shall keep available to his employees copies of such printed statements. Such printed statements shall be supplied by the Board to each employer without cost to him.
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(2) Any claimant whose claim for benefits has been denied in an initial determination with respect thereto upon the basis of his not being a qualified employee, and any claimant who contends that under an initial determination of his claim he has been awarded benefits at less than the proper rate, may appeal to the Board for the review of such determination. Thereupon the Board shall review the determination and for such review may designate one of its officers or employees to receive evidence and to report to the Board thereon together with recommendations. In any such case the Board or the person so designated shall, by publication or otherwise, notify all parties properly interested of their right to participate in the proceeding and, if a hearing is to be held, of the time and place of the hearing. At the request of any party properly interested the Board shall provide for a hearing, and may provide for a hearing on its own motion. The Board shall prescribe regulations governing the appeals provided for in this paragraph and for decisions upon such appeal.
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(3) Any base-year employer of a claimant whose claim for benefits has been granted in whole or in part, either in an initial determination with respect thereto or in a determination after a hearing pursuant to paragraph (1), and who contends that the determination is erroneous for a reason or reasons other than a reason that is reviewable under paragraph (4), may appeal to the Board for review of such determination. Despite such an appeal, the benefits awarded shall be paid to such claimant, subject to recovery by the Board if and to the extent found on the appeal to have been erroneously awarded. The Board shall take such action as is appropriate to recover the amount of such benefits including if feasible adjustment in subsequent payments pursuant to the first two paragraphs of section 352(d) of this title. Upon an appeal, the Board shall review the determination appealed from and for such review may designate one of its officers or employees to receive evidence and report to the Board thereof together with recommendations. In any such case the Board or the person so designated shall, by publication or otherwise, notify all parties properly interested of their right to participate in the proceeding and, if a hearing is to be held, of the time and place of the hearing. At the request of any party properly interested the Board shall provide for a hearing, and may provide for a hearing on its own motion. The Board shall prescribe regulations governing the appeals provided for in this paragraph and for decisions upon such appeal.
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(4) In any case in which benefits are awarded to a claimant in whole or in part upon the basis of pay earned in the service of a person or company found by the Board to be an employer as defined in this chapter but which denies that it is such an employer, such benefits awarded on such basis shall be paid to such claimant subject to a right of recovery of such benefits. The Board shall thereupon designate one of its officers or employees to receive evidence and to report to the Board on whether such benefits should be repaid. The Board may also designate one of its officers or employees to receive evidence and report to the Board whether or not any person or company is entitled to a refund of contributions or should be required to pay contributions under this chapter, regardless of whether or not any claims for benefits will have been filed upon the basis of service in the employ of such person or company, and shall follow such procedure if contributions are assessed and payment is refused or payment is made and a refund claimed upon the basis that such person or company is or will not have been liable for such contributions. In any such case the Board or the person so designated shall, by publication or otherwise, notify all parties properly interested of their right to participate in the proceeding and, if a hearing is to be held, of the time and place of the hearing. At the request of any party properly interested the Board shall provide for a hearing, and may provide for a hearing on its own motion. The Board shall prescribe regulations governing the proceedings provided for in this paragraph and for decisions upon such proceedings.
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(i) No claimant or other properly interested person claiming benefits shall be charged fees of any kind by the Board, its employees or representatives, with respect to such claim. Any such claimant or other properly interested person may be represented by counsel or other duly authorized agent, in any proceeding before the Board or its representatives or a court, but no such counsel or agent for a claimant shall either charge or receive for such services more than an amount approved by the Board or by the court before whom the proceedings of the Board are reviewed. Any person who violates any provision of this subsection shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment not exceeding one year.
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Employers shall file with the Board, in such manner and at such times as the Board by regulations may prescribe, returns of compensation of employees, and, if the Board shall so require, shall distribute to employees annual statements of compensation: Provided, That no returns shall be required of employers which would duplicate information contained in similar returns required under any other Act of Congress administered by the Board. The Board’s record of the compensation so returned shall, for the purpose of determining eligibility for and the amount of benefits, be conclusive as to the amount of compensation paid to an employee during the period covered by the return, and the fact that the Board’s records show that no return was made of the compensation claimed to have been paid to an employee during a particular period shall, for the purposes of determining eligibility for and the amount of benefits, be taken as conclusive that no compensation was paid to such employee during that period, unless the error in the amount of compensation in the one case, or failure to make or record return of the compensation in the other case, is called to the attention of the Board within eighteen months after the date on which the last return covering any portion of the calendar year which includes such period is required to have been made.
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(i) Every employer shall pay a contribution, with respect to having employees in his service, equal to the percentage determined under subparagraph (B), (C), or (D), whichever is applicable, of so much of the compensation paid in any calendar month by such employer to any employee as is not in excess of the monthly compensation base for that month as computed under section 351(i) of this title.
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(B) A sum equal to each amount realized in recovery for overpayment, erroneous payment, or reimbursement of benefits and credited to the account pursuant to section 360(a)(v) or 360(a)(viii) of this title shall be subtracted from the cumulative benefit balances of the employers of the employees to whom such an amount was paid as a benefit in the proportion to the amount by which each such employer’s cumulative benefit balance was increased as a result of the payment of the benefit.
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(II) in all other cases, in the same ratio as the compensation paid to such employee by the employer bears to the total of such compensation paid to such employees by all such employers in the base year.
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(j) The contributions required by this chapter shall be collected and paid quarterly or at such other times and in such manner and under such conditions not inconsistent with this chapter as may be prescribed by regulations of the Board, and shall not be deducted, in whole or in part, from the compensation of employees in the employer’s employ. If a contribution required by this chapter is not paid when due, there shall be added to the amount payable (except in the case of adjustments made in accordance with the provisions of this chapter) interest at the rate of 1 per centum per month or fraction of a month from the date the contribution became due until paid. Any interest collected pursuant to this subsection shall be credited to the account.
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(k) All provisions of law, including penalties, applicable with respect to any tax imposed by the provisions of the Railroad Retirement Tax Act [26 U.S.C. 3201 et seq.], insofar as applicable and not inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter, shall be applicable with respect to the contributions required by this chapter: Provided, That all authority and functions conferred by or pursuant to such provisions upon any officer or employee of the United States, except the authority to institute and prosecute, and the function of instituting and prosecuting, criminal proceedings, shall, with respect to such contributions, be vested in and exercised by the Board or such officers and employees of the Board as it may designate therefor. The remedies available under the first sentence of this subsection for an employer or employee representative who contests the amount of contributions payable by him shall also apply with respect to a contention that the contribution rate determined by the Board under subsection (a) or (b) to be applicable to such employer or employee representative is inaccurate or otherwise improper.
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(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all moneys at any time credited to the fund are permanently appropriated to the Board to be continuously available to the Board without further appropriation for any expenses necessary or incidental to administering this chapter, including personal services in the District of Columbia and elsewhere; travel expenses, including expenses of attendance at meetings when authorized by the Board; actual transportation expenses and not to exceed $10 per diem to cover subsistence and other expenses while in attendance at and en route to and from the place to which he is invited, to any person other than an employee of the Federal Government who may, from time to time, be invited to the city of Washington or elsewhere for conference or advisory purposes in furthering the work of the Board; when found by the Board to be in the interest of the Government, not exceeding 3 per centum, in any fiscal year, of the amounts credited during such year to the fund, for engaging persons or organizations, by contract or otherwise, for any special technical or professional services, determined necessary by the Board, including but not restricted to accounting, actuarial, statistical, and reporting services, without regard to section 6101 of title 41 and the provisions of other laws applicable to the employment and compensation of officers and employees of the United States; services; advertising, postage, telephone, telegraph, teletype, and other communication services and tolls; supplies; reproducing, photographing, and all other equipment, office appliances, and laborsaving devices, including devices for internal communication and conveyance; purchase and exchange, operation, maintenance and repair of motor-propelled passenger-carrying vehicles to be used only for official purposes in the District of Columbia and in the field; printing and binding; purchase and exchange of law books, books of reference, and directories; periodicals, newspapers and press clippings, in such amounts as the Board deems necessary, without regard to the provisions of section 192 of the Revised Statutes; manuscripts and special reports; membership fees or dues in organizations which issue publications to members only, or to members at a lower price than to others, payment for which may be made in advance; rentals, including garages, in the District of Columbia or elsewhere; alterations and repairs; if found by the Board to be necessary to expedite the certification to the Board by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management of persons eligible to be employed by the Board, and to the extent that the Board finds such expedition necessary, meeting the expenses of the Director of the Office of Personnel Management in holding examinations for testing the fitness of applicants for admission to the classified service for employment by the Board pursuant to the second paragraph of section 362(l) of this title, but not to exceed the additional expenses found by the Board to have been incurred by reason of the holding of such examinations; and miscellaneous items, including those for public instruction and information deemed necessary by the Board: Provided, That section 6101 of title 41 shall not be construed to apply to any purchase or procurement of supplies or services by the Board from moneys in the fund when the aggregate amount involved does not exceed $300. Determinations of the Board whether the fund or an appropriation for the administration of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 [45 U.S.C. 231 et seq.] is properly chargeable with the authorized expenses, or parts thereof, incurred in the administration of such Act, or of this chapter, shall be binding and conclusive for all purposes and upon all persons, including the Comptroller General and any other administrative or accounting officer, employee, or agent of the United States and shall not be subject to review in any manner.
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(a) For the purpose of any investigation or other proceeding relative to the determination of any right to benefits, or relative to any other matter within its jurisdiction under this chapter, the Board shall have the power to issue subpenas requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of any evidence, documentary or otherwise, that relates to any matter under investigation or in question, before the Board or any member, employee, or representative thereof. Any member of the Board or any of its employees or representatives designated by it may administer oaths and affirmations, examine witnesses, and receive evidence. Such attendance of witnesses and production of evidence may be required from any place in the United States or any Territory or possession thereof at any designated place of hearing. All subpenas may be served and returned by anyone authorized by the Board in the same manner as is now provided by law for the service and return by United States marshals of subpenas in suits in equity. Such service may also be made by registered mail or by certified mail and in such case the return post-office receipt shall be proof of service. Witnesses summoned in accordance with this subsection shall be paid the same fees and mileage as are paid witnesses in the district courts of the United States.
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(e) The Board shall provide for the certification of claims for benefits and refunds and may arrange total or partial settlements at such times and in such manner as may appear to the Board to be expedient. The Board shall designate and authorize one or more of its employees to sign vouchers for the payment of benefits and refunds under this chapter. Each such employee shall give bond, in form and amount fixed by the Board, conditioned upon the faithful performance of his duties. The premiums due on such bonds shall be paid from the fund and deemed to be a part of the expenses of administering this chapter.
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(i) The Board may establish, maintain, and operate free employment offices, and may designate as free employment offices facilities maintained by (i) a railway labor organization which is duly authorized and designated to represent employees in accordance with the Railway Labor Act [45 U.S.C. 151 et seq.], or (ii) any other labor organization which has been or may be organized in accordance with the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, or (iii) one or more employers, or (iv) an organization of employers, or (v) a group of such employers and labor organizations, or (vi) a State, Territorial, foreign, or the Federal Government. The Board may also enter into agreements or arrangements with one or more employers or railway labor organizations organized in accordance with the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, pursuant to which notice of the availability of work and the rights of employees with respect to such work under agreements between such employers and railway labor organizations may be filed with employment offices and pursuant to which employees registered with employment offices may be referred to such work.The Board shall prescribe a procedure for registration of unemployed employees at employment offices. Such procedure for registration shall be prescribed with a view to such registration affording substantial evidence of the days of unemployment of the employees who register. The Board may, when such registration is made personally by an employee, accept such registration as initial proof of unemployment sufficient to certify for payment a claim for benefits.The Board shall provide a form or forms for statements of sickness and a procedure for the execution and filing thereof. Such forms and procedure shall be designated with a view to having such statements provide substantial evidence of the days of sickness of the employee. Such statements may be executed by any doctor (authorized to practice in the State or foreign jurisdiction in which he practices his profession) or any officer or supervisory employee of a hospital, clinic, group health association, or other similar organization, who is qualified under such regulations as the Board may prescribe to execute such statements. The Board shall issue regulations for the qualification of such persons to execute such statements. When so executed by any such person, or, in the discretion of the Board, by others designated by the Board individually or by groups, they may be accepted as initial proof of days of sickness sufficient to certify for payment a claim for benefits.The regulations of the Board concerning registration at employment offices by unemployed persons may provide for group registration and reporting, through employers, and need not be uniform with respect to different classes of employees.The operation of any employment facility operated by the Board shall be directed primarily toward the reemployment of employees who have theretofore been substantially employed by employers.
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(j) The Board may appoint national or local advisory councils composed of equal numbers of representatives of employers, representatives of employees, and persons representing the general public, for the purpose of discussing problems in connection with the administration of this chapter and aiding the Board in formulating policies. The members of such councils shall serve without remuneration, but shall be reimbursed for any necessary traveling and subsistence expenses or on a per diem basis in lieu of subsistence expenses.
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(k) The Board, with the advice and aid of any advisory council appointed by it, shall take appropriate steps to reduce and prevent unemployment and loss of earnings; to encourage and assist in the adoption of practical methods of vocational training, retraining, and vocational guidance; to promote the reemployment of unemployed employees; and to these ends to carry on and publish the results of investigations and research studies.
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(l) In addition to the powers and duties expressly provided, the Board shall have and exercise all the powers and duties necessary to administer or incidental to administering this chapter, and in connection therewith shall have such of the powers, duties, and remedies provided in subdivisions (5), (6), and (9) of section 7(b) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 [45 U.S.C. 231f(b)] with respect to the administration of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 [45 U.S.C. 231 et seq.], as are not inconsistent with the express provisions of this chapter. A person in the employ of the Board under section 205 of the Act of Congress approved June 24, 1937 (50 Stat. 307), shall acquire a competitive classified civil-service status if, after recommendation by the Board to the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, he shall pass such noncompetitive tests of fitness as the Director of the Office of Personnel Management may prescribe. A person in the employ of the Board on June 30, 1939, and on June 30, 1940, and who has had experience in railroad service, shall acquire a competitive classified civil-service status if, after recommendation by the Board to the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, he shall pass such noncompetitive tests of fitness for the position for which the Board recommends him as the Director of the Office of Personnel Management may prescribe.The Board may employ such persons and provide for their remuneration and expenses, as may be necessary for the proper administration of this chapter. Such persons shall be employed and their remuneration prescribed in accordance with the civil-service laws and chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5: Provided, That all positions to which such persons are appointed, except one administrative assistant to each member of the Board, shall be in and under the competitive civil service and shall not be removed or excepted therefrom: Provided, That in the employment of such persons the Board shall give preference, as between applicants attaining the same grades, to persons who have had experience in railroad service, and notwithstanding any other provisions of law, rules, or regulations, no other preference shall be given or recognized: And provided further, That certification by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management of persons for appointment to any positions at minimum salaries of $4,600 per annum, or less, shall, if the Board so requests, be upon the basis of competitive examinations, written, oral, or both, as the Board may request: And provided further, That, for the purpose of registering unemployed employees who reside in areas in which no employer facilities are located, or in which no employer will make facilities available for the registration of such employees, the Board may, without regard to civil-service laws and chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, appoint persons to accept, in such areas, registration of such employees and perform services incidental thereto and may compensate such persons on a piece-rate basis to be determined by the Board. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Board may detail employees from stations outside the District of Columbia to other stations outside the District of Columbia or to service in the District of Columbia, and may detail employees in the District of Columbia to service outside the District of Columbia: Provided, That all details hereunder shall be made by specific order and in no case for a period of time exceeding one hundred and twenty days. Details so made may, on expiration, be renewed from time to time by order of the Board, in each particular case, for periods not exceeding one hundred and twenty days.
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(n) Any employee claiming, entitled to, or receiving sickness benefits under this chapter may be required to take such examination, physical, medical, mental, or otherwise, in such manner and at such times and by such qualified individuals, including medical officers or employees of the United States or a State, as the Board may prescribe. The place or places of examination shall be reasonably convenient for the employee. No sickness benefits shall be payable under this chapter with respect to any period during which the employee unreasonably refuses to take or willfully obstructs an examination as prescribed by the Board.Any doctor who renders any attendance, treatment, attention, or care, or performs any examination with respect to a sickness of an employee, upon which a claim or right to benefits under this chapter is based, shall furnish the Board, in such manner and form and at such times as the Board by regulations may prescribe, information and reports relative thereto and to the condition of the employee. An application for sickness benefits under this chapter shall contain a waiver of any doctor-patient privilege that the employee may have with respect to any sickness period upon which such application is based: Provided, That such information shall not be disclosed by the Board except in a proceeding relating to any claim for benefits by the employee under this chapter.The Board may enter into agreements or arrangements with doctors, hospitals, clinics, or other persons for securing the examination, physical, medical, mental, or otherwise, of employees claiming, entitled to, or receiving sickness benefits under this chapter and the performance of services or the use of facilities in connection with the execution of statements of sickness. The Board may compensate any such doctors, hospitals, clinics, or other persons upon such reasonable basis as the Board shall prescribe. Such doctors, hospitals, clinics, or other persons and persons employed by any of them shall not be subject to section 209 of title 18. In the event that the Board pays for the physical or mental examination of an employee or for the execution of a statement of sickness and such employee’s claim for benefits is based upon such examination or statement, the Board shall deduct from any sickness benefits payable to the employee pursuant to such claim such amount as, in the judgment of the Board, is a fair and reasonable charge for such examination or execution of such statement.
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(c) The Social Security Board is directed to determine for each State, after agreement with the Railroad Retirement Board, and after consultation with such State; the total (hereinafter referred to as the “preliminary amount”) of (i) the amount remaining as the balances of reserve accounts of employers as of June 30, 1939, if the unemployment compensation law of such State provides for a type of fund known as “Reserve Accounts,” plus (ii) if the unemployment compensation law of such State provides for a type of fund known as “Pooled Fund” or “Pooled Account,” that proportion of the balance of such fund or account of such State as of June 30, 1939, as the amount of taxes or contributions collected from employers and their employees prior to July 1, 1939, pursuant to its unemployment compensation law and credited to such fund or account bears to all such taxes or contributions theretofore collected from all persons subject to its unemployment compensation law and credited to such fund or account; and the additional amounts (hereinafter referred to as the “liquidating amount”) of taxes or contributions collected from employers and their employees from July 1, 1939 to December 31, 1939, pursuant to its unemployment compensation law.