45 U.S.C. § 231 : US Code - Section 231: Definitions

Search 45 U.S.C. § 231 : US Code - Section 231: Definitions

For the purposes of this subchapter -
(a)(1) The term "employer" shall include -
(i) any carrier by railroad subject to the jurisdiction of the
Surface Transportation Board under part A of subtitle IV of title
49;
(ii) any company which is directly or indirectly owned or
controlled by, or under common control with, one or more
employers as defined in paragraph (i) of this subdivision, and
which operates any equipment or facility or performs any service
(except trucking service, casual service, and the casual
operation of equipment or facilities) in connection with the
transportation of passengers or property by railroad, or the
receipt, delivery, elevation, transfer in transit, refrigeration
or icing, storage, or handling of property transported by
railroad;
(iii) any receiver, trustee, or other individual or body,
judicial or otherwise, when in the possession of the property or
operating all or any part of the business of any employer as
defined in paragraph (i) or (ii) of this subdivision;
(iv) any railroad association, traffic association, tariff
bureau, demurrage bureau, weighing and inspection bureau,
collection agency and any other association, bureau, agency, or
organization which is controlled and maintained wholly or
principally by two or more employers as defined in paragraph (i),
(ii), or (iii) of this subdivision and which is engaged in the
performance of services in connection with or incidental to
railroad transportation; and
(v) any railway labor organization, national in scope, which
has been or may be organized in accordance with the provisions of
the Railway Labor Act, as amended [45 U.S.C. 151 et seq.], and
its State and National legislative committees, general
committees, insurance departments, and local lodges and
divisions, established pursuant to the constitution or bylaws of
such organization.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (1) of this
subsection, the term "employer" shall not include -
(i) any company by reason of its being engaged in the mining of
coal, the supplying of coal to an employer where delivery is not
beyond the mine tipple, and the operation of equipment or
facilities therefor, or in any of such activities, and
(ii) any street, interurban, or suburban electric railway,
unless such railway is operating as a part of a general diesel-
railroad system of transportation, but shall not exclude any
part of the general diesel-railroad system of transportation now
or hereafter operated by any other motive power. The Surface
Transportation Board is hereby authorized and directed upon
request of the Railroad Retirement Board, or upon complaint of
any party interested, to determine after hearing whether any line
operated by electric power falls within the terms of this
paragraph.
(b)(1) The term "employee" means (i) any individual in the
service of one or more employers for compensation, (ii) any
individual who is in the employment relation to one or more
employers, and (iii) an employee representative: Provided, however,
That the term "employee" shall include an employee of a local lodge
or division defined as an employer in subsection (a) of this
section only if he was in the service of or in the employment
relation to an employer as defined in paragraph (i) of subsection
(a)(1) of this section on or after August 29, 1935.
(2) The term "employee" shall not include any individual while
such individual is engaged in the physical operations consisting of
the mining of coal, the preparation of coal, the handling (other
than movement by rail with standard railroad locomotives) of coal
not beyond the mine tipple, or the loading of coal at the tipple.
(c) 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) of this section who before or after August 29, 1935,
was in the service of an employer as defined in subsection (a) of
this section and who is duly authorized and designated to represent
employees in accordance with the Railway Labor Act, as amended [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.
(d)(1) An individual is in the service of an employer whether his
service is rendered within or without the United States if -
(i)(A) he is subject to the continuing authority of the
employer to supervise and direct the manner of rendition of his
service, or (B) he is rendering professional or technical
services and is integrated into the staff of the employer, or (C)
he is rendering, on the property used in the employer's
operations, personal services the rendition of which is
integrated into the employer's operations; and
(ii) he renders such service for compensation, or a method of
computing the monthly compensation for such service is provided
in section 231b(j) of this title.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (1) of this
subsection -
(i) 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;
(ii) an individual shall be deemed to be in the service of a
local lodge or division of a railway-labor-organization employer
not conducting the principal part of its business in the United
States only if (A) all, or substantially all, the individuals
constituting the membership of such local lodge or division are
employees of an employer conducting the principal part of its
business in the United States; or (B) the headquarters of such
local lodge or division is located in the United States; and
(iii) an individual shall be deemed to be in the service of a
general committee of a railway-labor-organization employer not
conducting the principal part of its business in the United
States only if (A) he is representing a local lodge or division
described in clause (A) or (B) of paragraph (ii); or (B) all, or
substantially all, the individuals represented by such general
committee are employees of an employer conducting the principal
part of its business in the United States; or (C) 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.
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions (1) and (2) of
this subsection, 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. For purposes of this
subdivision, the laws applicable on August 29, 1935, in the place
where the service is rendered shall be deemed to have been
applicable there at all times prior to that date.
(e)(1) An individual shall be deemed to have been in the
employment relation to an employer on August 29, 1935, if -
(i) he was on that date on leave of absence from his
employment, expressly granted to him by the employer by whom he
was employed, or by a duly authorized representative of such
employer, and the grant of such leave of absence will have been
established to the satisfaction of the Board before July 1947;
(ii) he was in the service of an employer after August 29,
1935, and before January 1946 in each of six calendar months,
whether or not consecutive;
(iii) before August 29, 1935, he did not retire and was not
retired or discharged from the service of the last employer by
whom he was employed or its corporate or operating successor, but
(A) solely by reason of his physical or mental disability he
ceased before August 29, 1935, to be in the service of such
employer and thereafter remained continuously disabled until he
attained age sixty-five or until August 1945, or (B) solely for
such last stated reason an employer by whom he was employed
before August 29, 1935, or an employer who is its successor did
not on or after August 29, 1935, and before August 1945 call him
to return to service, or (C) if he was so called he was solely
for such reason unable to render service in six calendar months
as provided in paragraph (ii); or
(iv) he was on August 29, 1935, absent from the service of an
employer by reason of a discharge which, within one year after
the effective date thereof, was protested, to an appropriate
labor representative or to the employer, as wrongful, and which
was followed within ten years of the effective date thereof by
his reinstatement in good faith to his former service with all
his senority (!1) rights.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (1) of this
subsection, an individual shall not be deemed to have been in the
employment relation to an employer on August 29, 1935, if before
that date he was granted a pension or gratuity on the basis of
which a pension was awarded to him pursuant to section 6 of the
Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 [45 U.S.C. 228f], or if during the
last payroll period before August 29, 1935, in which he rendered
service to an employer he was not in the service of an employer, in
accordance with subsection (d) of this section, with respect to any
service in such payroll period, or if he could have been in the
employment relation to an employer only by reason of his having
been, either before or after August 29, 1935, in the service of a
local lodge or division defined as an employer in subsection (a) of
this section.
(f)(1) The term "years of service" shall mean the number of years
an individual as an employee shall have rendered service to one or
more employers for compensation or received remuneration for time
lost, and shall be computed in accordance with the provisions of
section 231b(i) of this title. Twelve calendar months, consecutive
or otherwise, in each of which an employee has rendered such
service or received such wages for time lost, shall constitute a
year of service. Ultimate fractions shall be taken at their actual
value.
(2) Where service prior to August 29, 1935, may be included in
the computation of years of service as provided in subdivision (3)
of section 231b(i) of this title, it may be included as to -
(i) service rendered to a person which was an employer on
August 29, 1935, irrespective of whether such person was an
employer at the time such service was rendered;
(ii) service rendered to any express company, sleeping-car
company, or carrier by railroad which was a predecessor of a
company which, on August 29, 1935, was an employer as defined in
paragraph (i) of subsection (a)(1) of this section, irrespective
of whether such predecessor was an employer at the time such
service was rendered; and
(iii) service rendered to a person not an employer in the
performance of operations involving the use of standard railroad
equipment if such operations were performed by an employer on
August 29, 1935.
(g)(1) For purposes of section 231b(i)(2) of this title, an
individual shall be deemed to have been in "military service" when
commissioned or enrolled in the active service of the land or naval
forces of the United States and until resignation or discharge
therefrom; and the service of any individual in any reserve
component of the land or naval forces of the United States, while
serving in the land or naval forces of the United States for any
period, even though less than thirty days, shall be deemed to have
been active service in such force during such period.
(2) For purposes of section 231b(i)(2) of this title, a "war
service period" shall mean (A) any war period, or (B) with respect
to any particular individual, any period during which such
individual (i) having been in military service at the end of a war
period, was required to continue in military service, or (ii) was
required by call of the President, or by any Act of Congress or
regulation, order, or proclamation pursuant thereto, to enter and
continue in military service, or (C) any period after September 7,
1939, with respect to which a state of national emergency was duly
declared to exist which requires a strengthening of the national
defense. For purposes of section 231b(i)(2) of this title, the
period beginning on June 15, 1948, and ending on December 15, 1950,
shall be deemed to be a war service period with respect to any
individual who without intervening employment not covered by this
subchapter rendered service as an employee to an employer under
this subchapter in the year such individual was released from
active military service or in the year immediately following such
year.
(3) For purposes of section 231b(i)(2) of this title, a "war
period" shall be deemed to have begun on whichever of the following
dates is the earliest: (A) the date on which the Congress of the
United States declared war; or (B) the date as of which the
Congress of the United States declared that a state of war has
existed; or (C) the date on which war was declared by one or more
foreign states against the United States; or (D) the date on which
any part of the United States or any territory under its
jurisdiction was invaded or attacked by any armed force of one or
more foreign states; or (E) the date on which the United States
engaged in armed hostilities for the purpose of preserving the
Union or of maintaining in any State of the Union a republican form
of government.
(4) For purposes of section 231b(i)(2) of this title, a "war
period" shall be deemed to have ended on the date on which
hostilities ceased.
(h)(1) The term "compensation" means any form of money
remuneration paid to an individual for services rendered as an
employee to one or more employers or as an employee representative,
including remuneration paid for time lost as an employee, but
remuneration paid for time lost shall be deemed earned in the month
in which such time is lost. A payment made by an employer to an
individual through the employer's payroll shall be presumed, in the
absence of evidence to the contrary, to be compensation for service
rendered by such individual as an employee of the employer in the
period with respect to which the payment is made. Compensation
earned in any calendar month before 1947 shall be deemed paid in
such month regardless of whether or when payment will have been in
fact made, and compensation earned in any calendar year after 1946
but paid after the end of such calendar year shall be deemed to be
compensation paid in the calendar year in which it will have been
earned if it is so reported by the employer before February 1 of
the next succeeding calendar year or if the employee establishes,
subject to the provisions of section 231h of this title, the period
during which such compensation will have been earned.
(2) An employee shall be deemed to be paid "for time lost" the
amount he is paid by an employer with respect to an identifiable
period of absence from the active service of the employer,
including absence on account of personal injury, and the amount he
is paid by the employer for loss of earnings resulting from his
displacement to a less remunerative position or occupation. If a
payment is made by an employer with respect to a personal injury
and includes pay for time lost, the total payment shall be deemed
to be paid for time lost unless, at the time of payment, a part of
such payment is specifically apportioned to factors other than time
lost, in which event only such part of the payment as is not so
apportioned shall be deemed to be paid for time lost.
(3) Solely for purposes of determining amounts to be included in
the compensation of an employee, the term "compensation" shall also
include cash tips received by an employee in any calendar month in
the course of his employment by an employer unless the amount of
such cash tips is less than $20.
(4) Tips included as compensation by reason of the provisions of
subdivision (3) shall be deemed to be paid at the time a written
statement including such tips is furnished to the employer pursuant
to section 6053(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 [26 U.S.C.
6053(a)] or, if no statement including such tips is so furnished,
at the time received. Tips so deemed to be paid in any month shall
be deemed paid for services rendered in such month.
(5) In determining compensation, there shall be attributable as
compensation paid to an employee in calendar months in which he is
in military service creditable under section 231b(i)(2) of this
title, in addition to any other compensation paid to him with
respect to such months -
(i) for each such calendar month prior to 1968, $160;
(ii) for each such calendar month after 1967 and prior to 1975,
$260; and
(iii) for each such calendar month after 1974, the amount which
is creditable as such individual's "wages" under section 209(d)
of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 409(d)].
(6) Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding subdivisions
of this subsection, the term "compensation" shall not include -
(i) tips, except as is provided under subdivision (3) of this
subsection;
(ii) remuneration for service which is performed by a non-
resident alien individual for the period he is temporarily
present in the United States as a nonimmigrant under subparagraph
(F) or (J) of section 1101(a)(15) of title 8, as amended, and
which is performed to carry out the purpose specified in
subparagraph (F) or (J), as the case may be;
(iii) remuneration earned in the service of a local lodge or
division of a railway-labor-organization employer with respect to
any calendar month in which the amount of such remuneration is
less than $25;
(iv) remuneration for service as a delegate to a national or
international convention of a railway-labor-organization employer
if the individual rendering such service has not previously
rendered service, other than as such a delegate, which may be
included in his "years of service;"
(v) the amount of any payment (including any amount paid by an
employer for insurance or annuities, or into a fund, to provide
for any such payment) made to, or on behalf of, an employee or
any of his dependents under a plan or system established by an
employer which makes provision for his employees generally (or
for his employees generally and their dependents) or for a class
or classes of his employees (or for a class or classes of his
employees and their dependents), on account of sickness or
accident disability or medical or hospitalization expenses in
connection with sickness or accident disability; and
(vi) an amount paid specifically - either as an advance, as
reimbursement or allowance - for traveling or other bona fide and
necessary expenses incurred or reasonably expected to be incurred
in the business of the employer provided any such payment is
identified by the employer either by a separate payment or by
specifically indicating the separate amounts where both wages and
expense reimbursement or allowance are combined in a single
payment.
(7) The term "compensation" includes any separation allowance or
subsistence allowance paid under any benefit schedule provided
under section 701 of title VII of the Regional Rail Reorganization
Act of 1973 [45 U.S.C. 797] (!2) and any termination allowance paid
under section 702 of that Act [45 U.S.C. 797a], but does not
include any other benefits payable under that title [45 U.S.C. 797
et seq.]. The total amount of any subsistence allowance paid under
a benefit schedule provided pursuant to section 701 of the Regional
Rail Reorganization Act of 1973 shall be considered as having been
earned in the month in which the employee first timely filed a
claim for such an allowance.
(8) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, for
the purposes of sections 231b(a)(1), 231c(a)(1), and 231c(f)(1) of
this title, the term "compensation" includes any payment from any
source to an employee or employee representative if such payment is
subject to tax under section 3201 or 3211 of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 [26 U.S.C. 3201, 3211].
(i) The term "Board" means the Railroad Retirement Board.
(j) The term "company" includes corporations, associations, and
joint-stock companies.
(k) The term "employee" includes an officer of an employer.
(l) The term "person" means an individual, a partnership, an
association, a joint-stock company, a corporation, or the United
States or any other governmental body.
(m) The term "United States," when used in a geographical sense,
means the States and the District of Columbia.
(n) The term "Social Security Act" means the Social Security Act
as amended [42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.] from time to time.
(o) An individual shall be deemed to have "a current connection
with the railroad industry" at the time an annuity begins to accrue
to him and at death if, in any thirty consecutive calendar months
before the month in which an annuity under this subchapter begins
to accrue to him, or the month in which he dies if that first
occurs, he will have been in service as an employee in not less
than twelve calendar months and, if such thirty calendar months do
not immediately precede such month, he will not have been engaged
in any regular employment other than employment for an employer or
employment with the Department of Transportation, the Interstate
Commerce Commission, the Surface Transportation Board, the National
Mediation Board, the National Transportation Safety Board, the
State-owned railroad (as defined in the Alaska Railroad Transfer
Act of 1982 [45 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.]), so long as it is an
instrumentality of the State of Alaska, or the Railroad Retirement
Board in the period before such month and after the end of such
thirty months. For purposes of section 231a(b) of this title and
section 231a(d) of this title only, an individual shall be deemed
also to have "a current connection with the railroad industry" if,
after having completed twenty-five years of service, such
individual involuntarily and without fault ceased rendering service
as an employee under this subchapter and did not thereafter decline
an offer of employment in the same class or craft as the
individual's most recent employee service. For purposes of section
231a(d) of this title only, an individual shall be deemed to have a
"current connection with the railroad industry" if a pension will
have been payable to that individual under the Railroad Retirement
Act of 1937 [45 U.S.C. 228a et seq.] or a retirement annuity based
on service of not less than 10 years (as computed in awarding the
annuity) will have begun to accrue to that individual prior to 1948
under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937. For the purposes of
section 231a(d) of this title only, an individual shall be deemed
also to have a "current connection with the railroad industry" if
he will have completed ten years of service and (A) he would be
neither fully nor currently insured under the Social Security Act
[42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.] if his service as an employee after
December 31, 1936, were included in the term "employment" as
defined in that Act, or (B) he has no quarters of coverage under
the Social Security Act.
(p) The term "annuity" means a monthly sum which is payable on
the first day of each calendar month for the accrual during the
preceding calendar month.
(q) The terms "quarter" and "calendar quarter" shall mean a
period of three calendar months ending on March 31, June 30,
September 30, or December 31.
(r) For purposes of this subchapter, a person shall be considered
to be permanently insured under the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C.
301 et seq.] on December 31, 1974, if he or she would be fully
insured within the meaning of section 214(a) of that Act [42 U.S.C.
414(a)] when he or she attains age 62 solely on the basis of his or
her quarters of coverage under that Act acquired prior to January
1, 1975.