(a) General. This subpart explains how long a qualified employee may receive normal unemployment or sickness benefits under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act during a benefit year. Under section 2(c) of that Act, normal unemployment benefits are payable for up to 130 days of unemployment within a benefit year, or in an amount equal to the amount of the employee's “base year compensation”, whichever is less. A similar limitation applies to the payment of sickness benefits. An employee who exhausts his or her normal unemployment or sickness benefits may be eligible for payment of extended unemployment or extended sickness benefits under the conditions set forth in subpart B of this part.

(b) Definitions. The terms “benefit year”, “base year”, and “compensation” are defined in part 302 of this chapter. The term “registration period” is defined in parts 325 and 335 of this chapter. For the purposes of this subpart, and as explained in §336.4 of this part, an employee's “base year compensation” may include compensation in excess of the monthly compensation base (as defined in part 302 of this chapter) even though such excess may not be counted for the purpose of determining whether such employee is a “qualified employee” within the meaning of part 302.

(c) Recovery of benefits. When unemployment or sickness benefits are recovered by the Board for one or more days, the Board will disregard those days in determining whether the employee has exhausted normal unemployment or sickness benefits with respect to the applicable benefit year.