During the period of a temporary transfer to another branch, the transferred employee: (1) if an employee of the executive or judicial branch, shall be compensated at no lower rate than that which he is receiving as an employee of the transferor office; (2) if an employee of the legislative branch, shall be compensated in the same manner as other employees of the transferee office who do similar work or who are charged with similar responsibilities. Provided, that if the transferred employee is a member of any state retirement system, the transferee office shall pay the state’s portion or retirement contributions for that employee at a rate set pursuant to the provisions of said system. In no case shall a transfer period be considered an interruption of state service.