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Title 45, RailroadsRelease 119-102

§231q Crediting Service Under Social Security Act

Title 45 › CHAPTER 9 — RETIREMENT OF RAILROAD EMPLOYEES › SUBCHAPTER IV — RAILROAD RETIREMENT ACT OF 1974 › § 231q

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Railroad employee work is usually not counted as "employment" for Social Security. But there are rules that make that work count for Social Security in some cases. If a worker has less than 10 years of railroad service (or less than 5 years when all that service happened after December 31, 1995), their railroad work can be treated as Social Security employment when figuring monthly benefits for them or for people who get benefits based on them while they are alive. The same can apply for monthly or lump-sum death benefits when the worker dies and either has that short service or has 10 (or 5, if after 1995) or more years but was not connected to the railroad at death. For these purposes, pay in a year is assumed to be spread evenly over the months the person worked unless there is proof otherwise, and all such railroad service is treated as if it happened inside the United States.

Full Legal Text

Title 45, §231q

Railroads, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(1)Except as provided in subdivision (2), the term “employment” as defined in section 216 of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 416] shall not include service performed by an individual as an employee as defined in section 231(b) of this title.
(2)For the purpose of determining (i) monthly insurance benefits under the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.] to an employee who will have completed less than ten years of service (or less than five years of service, 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 who (A) will have completed less than ten years of service (or less than five years of service, all of which accrues after December 31, 1995) or (B) will have completed ten or more years of service (or five or more years of service, 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 and section 216(i) of that Act [42 U.S.C. 403, 416(i)], section 210(a)(9) of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 410(a)(9)] and subdivision (1) of this section shall not operate to exclude from “employment” under the Social Security Act service which would otherwise be included in such “employment” but for such sections. For such purpose, compensation 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 will have been in service as an employee. In the application of the Social Security Act pursuant to this subdivision to service as an employee, all service as defined in section 231(d) of this title shall be deemed to have been performed within the United States.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

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 AmendmentAmendment 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 AmendmentAmendment 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.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

45 U.S.C. § 231q

Title 45, Railroads

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102