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made from time to time as may be prescribed by the Board. If the individual fails to comply with the requirements prescribed by the Board as to proof of the disability or the continuance of the disability until age sixty-five, his right to an annuity under subdivision 2 or subdivision 3 of this subsection by reason of such disability shall, except for good cause shown to the Board, cease, but without prejudice to his rights under subdivision 1 or 2 (a) of this subsection. If, prior to attaining age sixty-five, such an individual recovers and is no longer disabled for regular employment for hire, his annuity shall cease upon the last day of the month in which he so recovers and if after such recovery the individual is granted an annuity under subdivision 1 or 2 (a) of this subsection, the amount of such annuity shall be reduced on an actuarial basis to be determined by the Board so as to compensate for the annuity previously received under this subdivision.

"(b) An annuity shall be paid only if the applicant shall have relinquished such rights as he may have to return to the service of an employer and of the person by whom he was last employed; but this requirement shall not apply to the individuals mentioned in subdivision 2 (b) and subdivision 3 of subsection (a) prior to attaining age sixty-five.

"(c) An annuity shall begin to accrue as of a date to be specified in a written application (to be made in such manner and form as may be prescribed by the Board and to be signed by the individual entitled thereto), but―

"(1) not before the date following the last day of compensated service of the applicant, and

"(2) not more than sixty days before the filing of the application.

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"(d) No annuity shall be paid with respect to any month in which an individual in receipt of an annuity hereunder shall render compensated service to an employer or to the last person by whom he was employed prior to the date on which the annuity began to accrue. Individuals receiving annuities shall report to the Board immediately all such compensated service.

"COMPUTATION OF ANNUITIES

"SEC. 3. (a) The annuity shall be computed by multiplying an individual's 'years of service' by the following percentages of his 'monthly compensation': 2 per centum of the first $50; 12 per centum of the next $100; and 1 per centum of the next $150.

"(b) The 'years of service' of an individual shall be determined as follows:

"(1) In the case of an individual who was an employee on the enactment date, the years of service shall include all his service subsequent to December 31, 1936, and if the total number of such years is less than thirty, then the years of service shall also include his service prior to January 1, 1937, but not so as to make his total years of service exceed thirty: Provided, however, That with respect to any such individual who rendered service to any employer after January 1, 1937, and who on the enactment date was not an employee of an employer conducting the principal part of its business in the United States no greater proportion of his service

rendered prior to January 1, 1937, shall be included in his 'years of service' than the proportion which his total compensation (including compensation in any month in excess of $300) for service after January 1, 1937, rendered anywhere to an employer conducting the principal part of its business in the United States or rendered in the United States to any other employer bears to his total compensation (including compensation in any month in excess of $300) for service rendered anywhere to an employer after Janu1, 1937.

ary (2) In all other cases, the years of service shall include only

the service subsequent to December 31, 1936.

"(3) Where the years of service include only part of the service prior to January 1, 1937, the part included shall be taken in reverse order beginning with the last calendar month of such service.

"(4) In no case shall the years of service include any service rendered after June 30, 1937, by an individual who is sixty-five years of age or over, except for the purpose of computing his monthly compensation as provided in subsection (c) of this section. "(c) The 'monthly compensation' shall be the average compensation earned by an employee in calendar months included in his 'years of service', except (1) that with respect to service prior to January 1, 1937, the monthly compensation shall be the average compensation earned by an employee in calendar months included in his years of service in the years 1924-1931, and (2) that where service in the period 1924-1931 is, in the judgment of the Board, insufficient to constitute a fair and equitable basis for determining the monthly compensation, for service prior to January 1, 1937, the Board shall determine the monthly compensation for such service in such manner as in its judgment shall be just and equitable. If the employee earned compensation after June 30, 1937, and after the last day of the month in which he attained age sixty-five, such compensation shall be disregarded if the result of taking such compensation into account would be to diminish his annuity. In computing the monthly compensation, no part of any month's compensation in excess of $300 shall be recognized.

"(d) The annuity of an individual who shall have been an employee representative shall be determined in the same manner and with the same effect as if the employee organization by which he shall have been employed were an employer.

"(e) If the individual was an employee when he attained age sixty-five and has completed twenty years of service, the minimum annuity payable to him shall be $40 per month: Provided, however, That if the monthly compensation on which his annuity is based is less than $50, his annuity shall be 80 per centum of such monthly compensation, except that if such 80 per centum is less than $20, the annuity shall be $20 or the same amount as the monthly compensation, whichever is less. In no case shall the value of the annuity be less than the value of the additional old-age benefit he would receive under title II of the Social Security Act if his service as an employee after December 31, 1936, were included in the term 'employment' as defined therein.

"(f) Annuity payments due an individual but not yet paid at death shall be paid to a surviving spouse if such spouse is entitled

to an annuity under an election made pursuant to the provisions of section 4; otherwise they shall be paid to the same individual or individuals who may be entitled to receive any death benefit that may be payable under the provisions of section 5.

(g) No annuity shall accrue with respect to the calendar month in which an annuitant dies.

"(h) After an annuity has begun to accrue, it shall not be subject to recomputation on account of service rendered thereafter to an employer, except as provided in subdivision 3 of section 2 (a).

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"(i) If an annuity is less than $2.50, it may, in the discretion of the Board, be paid quarterly or in a lump sum equal to its commuted value as determined by the Board.

"JOINT AND SURVIVOR ANNUITY

"SEC. 4. An individual whose annuity shall not have begun to accrue may elect prior to January 1, 1938, or at least five years before the date on which his annuity begins to accrue, or upon furnishing proof of health satisfactory to the Board, to have the value of his annuity apply to the payment of a reduced annuity to him during life and an annuity after his death to his spouse during life equal to, or 75 per centum of, or 50 per centum of such reduced annuity. The amounts of the two annuities shall be such that their combined actuarial value as determined by the Board shall be the same as the actuarial value of the single-life annuity to which the individual would otherwise be entitled. Such election shall be irrevocable, except that it shall become inoperative if the individual or the spouse dies before the annuity begins to accrue or if the individual's marriage is dissolved or if the individual shall be granted an annuity under subdivision 3 of section 2 (a): Provided, however, That the individual may, if his marriage is dissolved before the date his annuity begins to accrue, or if his annuity under subdivision 3 of section 2 (a) ceases because of failure to make the required proof of disability, make a new election under the conditions stated in the first sentence of this subsection. The annuity of a spouse under this subsection shall begin to accrue on the first day of the calendar month in which the death of the individual occurs.

"DEATH BENEFITS

"SEC. 5. The following benefits shall be paid with respect to the death of individuals who were employees after December 31, 1936: "(a) If the deceased should not be survived by a widow or widower who is entitled to an annuity under an election made pursuant to the provisions of section 4, there shall be paid to such person or persons as the deceased may have designated by a writing filed with the Board prior to his death, or if there be no designation, to the legal representative of the deceased, the amount, if any, by which 4 per centum of the aggregate compensation earned by the deceased after December 31, 1936, exceeds the sum of the total of che annuity payments actually made to the deceased plus the total of the annuity payments due the deceased but not yet paid at death. If the person or persons designated to receive the death benefit do not survive the deceased, the death benefit shall be paid to the legal representative of the deceased.

"(b) If the deceased should be survived by a widow or widower entitled to an annuity under an election made pursuant to the provisions of section 4, there shall, on the death of the widow or widower, be paid to such person or persons as the deceased may have desig nated by a writing filed with the Board prior to his death, or if there be no designation, to the legal representative of the deceased, the amount, if any, by which 4 per centum of the aggregate compensation earned by the deceased after December 31, 1936, exceeds the sum of the total of the annuity payments actually made to the deceased plus the total of the annuity payments actually made to the widow or widower under an election made pursuant to the provisions of section 4 and under the provisions of section 3 (f), plus the total of the annuity payments due the widow or widower but not yet paid at death. If the person or persons designated to receive the death benefit do not survive the widow or widower, the death benefit shall be paid to the legal representative of the deceased.

"In computing the aggregate compensation for the purpose of this section, no part of any month's earnings in excess of $300 shall be recognized.

"PENSIONS TO INDIVIDUALS ON PENSION OR GRATUITY ROLLS OF EMPLOYERS

"SEC. 6. (a) Beginning July 1, 1937, each individual then on the pension or gratuity roll of an employer by reason of his employment, who was on such roll on March 1, 1937, shall be paid on July 1, 1937, and on the 1st day of each calendar month thereafter during his life, a pension at the same rate as the pension or gratuity granted to him by the employer without diminution by reason of a general reduction or readjustment made subsequent to December 31, 1930, and applicable to pensioners of the employer: Provided, however, That no pension payable under this section shall exceed $120 monthly: And provided further, That no individual on the pension or gratuity roll of an employer not conducting the principal part of its business in the United States shall be paid a pension under this section unless, in the judgment of the Board, he was, on March 1, 1937, carried on the pension or gratuity roll as a United States pensioner.

"(b) No individual covered by this section who was on July 1, 1937, eligible for an annuity under this Act or the Railroad Retire;ment Act of 1935, based in whole or in part on service rendered prior to January 1, 1937, shall receive a pension payment under this section subsequent to the payment due on October 1, 1937, or due on the 1st day of the month in which the application for an annuity of such individual has been awarded and certified by the Board, whichever of the two dates is earlier. The annuity claims of such individuals who receive pension payments under this section shall be adjudicated in the same manner and with the same effect as if no pension payments had been made: Provided, however, That no such individual shall be entitled to receive both a pension under this section and an annuity under this Act or the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935, and in the event pension payments have been made to any such individual in any month in which such individual is entitled to an annuity under this Act or the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935, the difference between the amounts paid as pensions and the amounts due as annuities shall be adjusted in accordance with such rules and regulations as the Board may deem just and reasonable.

"(c) The pension paid under this section shall not be considered to be in substitution for that part of the pension or gratuity from the employer which is in excess of a pension or gratuity at the rate of $120 a month.

"SEC. 7. Nothing in this Act or the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935 shall be taken as restricting or discouraging payment by employers to retired employees of pensions or gratuities in addition to the annuities or pensions paid to such employees under such Acts, nor shall such Acts be taken as terminating any trust heretofore created for the payment of such pensions or gratuities.

"CONCLUSIVENESS OF RETURNS OF COMPENSATION AND OF FAILURE TO MAKE RETURNS OF COMPENSATION

"SEC. 8. Employers shall file with the Board, in such manner and form and at such times as the Board by rules and regulations may prescribe, returns under oath of monthly compensation of employees, and, if the Board shall so require, shall furnish employees with statements of their monthly compensation as reported to the Board. Any such return shall be conclusive as to the amount of compensation earned by an employee during each month covered by the return, and the fact that no return was made of the compensation claimed to be earned by an employee during a particular calendar month shall be taken as conclusive that no compensation was earned by such employee during that month, unless the error in the amount of compensation returned in the one case, or the failure to make return of the compensation in the other case, is called to the attention of the Board within four years after the last date on which return of the compensation was required to be made.

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"ERRONEOUS PAYMENTS

“SEO. 9. (a) If the Board finds that at any time more or less than the correct amount of any annuity or pension has theretofore been paid to any individual under this Act or the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935, then, under regulations made by the Board, proper adjustments shall be made in connection with subsequent payments under such Acts to the same individual.

"(b) There shall be no recovery of payments of annuities, death benefits, or pensions from any person who, in the judgment of the Board, is without fault and if, in the judgment of the Board, such recovery would be against equity and good conscience. No disbursing officer shall be held liable for any amount paid by him to any person where the recovery of such amount is waived under this section

"RETIREMENT BOARD
"Personnel

"SEO. 10. (a) There is hereby established as an independent agency in the executive branch of the Government a Railroad Retirement Board, to be composed of three members appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Each member shall hold office for a term of five years, except that any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed shall be appointed for the remainder of the term and the terms of office of the members first

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