(a) Employees of a sending agency of this State or any political subdivision thereof participating in an exchange of personnel as authorized in § 8-12-20 may be considered during such 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 shall be granted annual leave or other time off with pay to the extent authorized by law applicable to the sending agency. 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 and, notwithstanding any other provision of law, such employees shall be entitled to credit the period of such assignment toward any benefits provided them by law as employees of the sending agency.

(d) Any employee of a sending agency of this State or any political subdivision thereof who participates in an exchange under the terms of this chapter 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 who has sustained such injury in the performance of his duties with the sending agency but any benefits so received as an employee of the sending agency shall be reduced to the extent he is entitled to and elects to receive similar benefits under the receiving agency’s employee compensation program.