Rhode Island § 42-40-4 - Interchange of Government Employees

§ 42-40-4. Status of employees of this state.

(a) Employees of a sending agency participating in an exchange of personnel as authorized in § 42-40-3 may be considered during the participation to be:

(1) On detail to regular work assignments of the sending agency; or

(2) In a status of leave of absence from their positions in the sending agency.

(b) Employees who are on detail shall be entitled to the same salary and benefits to which they would otherwise be entitled and shall remain employees of the sending agency for all other purposes except that the supervision of their duties during the period of detail may be governed by agreement between the sending agency and the receiving agency.

(c) Employees who are in a leave of absence status as provided herein shall be carried on leave without pay: provided, that they may be granted annual leave or other time off with pay to the extent authorized by law and may be granted authorized sick leave in circumstances considered by the sending agency to justify that leave. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, employees who are in a leave of absence status shall have the same rights, benefits, and obligations as employees generally who are in such leave status but notwithstanding any other provision of law these employees may be entitled to credit the period of such assignment toward benefits as employees of the sending agency.

(d) Any employee who participates in an exchange under the terms of this section who suffers disability or death as a result of personal injury arising out of and in the course of an exchange, or sustained in performance of duties in connection therewith, shall be treated, for the purposes of the sending agency’s employee compensation program, as an employee, as defined in that act, who has sustained injury in the performance of that duty, but shall not receive benefits under that act for any period for which he or she is entitled to and elects to receive similar benefits under the receiving agency’s employee compensation program.