Introduction.

§ 323.1 Introduction. (a) This part defines the phrase nongovernmental plan for unemployment or sickness insurance and sets forth the procedure by which an employer may obtain a determination by the Railroad Retirement Board as to whether a particular plan that such employer maintains for its employees qualifies as a nongovernmental plan. In general, any payment by an employer to an employee for services rendered as an employee will be considered to be remuneration within the meaning of section 1(j) of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act and part 322 of this chapter. This includes employer payments that relate to an employee's loss of earnings during a period of time when the employee is unemployed or sick, including sickness resulting from injury. The exception is when an employer pays an employee a benefit pursuant to the provisions of a nongovernmental plan for unemployment or sickness insurance established by an employer for the benefit of its employees. Benefit payments under such plans are not remuneration and do not affect an employee's eligibility for unemployment or sickness benefits under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. (b) This part does not have any general applicability to private insurance contracts under which an insurance company, pursuant to a policy of insurance maintained by or for an employee, pays medical or hospital expenses or other cash benefits to or in behalf of an employee. Nor does this part apply to any private plan for relief of unemployment established by a party other than an employer such as, for example, a plan established by a labor union under which it undertakes to pay benefits to striking members of the union out of a strike insurance fund. Insurance policy benefits and strike unemployment benefits, although paid under plans that are nongovernmental in nature, are not considered remuneration for services under the general definition of remuneration. See part 322 of this chapter.