§ 126A-5-20. Interchange of governmental employees.
(a) Short Title. - This section shall be known and may be cited as the "North Carolina Interchange of Governmental Employees Act."
(b) Definitions. - The following definitions apply in this section:
(1) Assigned employee. - An employee of a sending agency who is assigned or detailed to a receiving agency as part of the employee's regular duties with the sending agency.
(2) Employee on leave. - An employee on leave of absence without pay from a sending agency who becomes an employee of a receiving agency while on leave from the sending agency.
(3) Receiving agency. - Any division, department, agency, instrumentality, authority, or political subdivision of the federal government or of a state or local government which, under this section, receives an employee of another governmental division, department, agency, instrumentality, authority, or political subdivision of the federal government or of a state or local government.
(4) Sending agency. - Any division, department, agency, instrumentality, authority, or political subdivision of the federal government or of a state or local government which, under this section, sends any employee thereof to another governmental division, department, agency, instrumentality, authority, or political subdivision of the federal government or of a state or local government.
(c) Authority to Interchange Employees. - The authority for the interchange of employees is as follows:
(1) Any division, department, agency, instrumentality, authority, or political subdivision of the State of North Carolina may participate in a program of interchange of employees with divisions, departments, agencies, instrumentalities, authorities, or political subdivisions of the federal government, of another state, or of this State, as a sending agency or a receiving agency.
(2) The period of individual assignment, detail, or leave of absence under an interchange program shall not exceed two years.
(3) The temporary assignment of the employee may be terminated by mutual agreement between the sending agency and the receiving agency.
(4) Elected officials may not participate in a program of interchange.
(d) Status of Employees of Sending Agency. - The status of employees of a sending agency is governed as follows:
(1) Employees of a sending agency participating in an exchange of personnel authorized by subsection (c) of this section may be considered during such participation to be either assigned employees or employees on leave.
(2) Assigned employees shall be entitled to the same salary and employment benefits to which they would be entitled as employees of the sending agency and shall remain employees of the sending agency for all purposes unless otherwise provided in this section or in a written agreement between the sending agency and the receiving agency.
(3) Employees on leave shall have the same rights, benefits and obligations as other State or local employees subject to this Chapter who are granted leaves of absence, unless otherwise provided in this section, or in a written agreement between the sending agency and the receiving agency.
(4) Employees of a sending agency of this State participating in an exchange of personnel authorized by subsection (c) of this section, whether considered assigned employees or employees on leave, shall have the same rights, benefits and obligations to participate in and receive benefits, including death benefits, from any retirement system of which they are members as employees of the sending agency if the receiving agency agrees to and makes the employer contributions and deducts from the salary of the employee the employee contributions for continued membership in that retirement system, whether they are members of the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System, the North Carolina Local Governmental Employees' Retirement System, the Law Enforcement Officers' Benefit and Retirement Fund, or any other Retirement System established by the State for public employees. If the employee remains entitled to death benefits resulting from his or her death during the period of the exchange, where duplicate benefits would otherwise be payable on account of disability or death, the employee or his or her estate shall elect, within one year of the date of disability or death, which benefits to receive.
(e) Travel Expenses of Employees from this State. - A sending agency in this State shall not pay the travel expenses of its assigned or on leave employees and shall not pay the travel expenses of such employees incurred in the course of performing work for the receiving agency. [These] expenses shall be borne by the receiving agency.
(f) Status of Employees of Other Governments. - The status of employees of other governments is governed as follows:
(1) When a division, department, agency, instrumentality, authority, or political subdivision of the State of North Carolina acts as a receiving agency, assigned employees of the sending agency remain the employees of the sending agency and continue to receive the employment benefits of the sending agency unless otherwise specified in a written agreement between the sending agency and the receiving agency.
(2) When a division, department, agency, instrumentality, authority, or political subdivision of this State acts as a receiving agency, employees on leave from the sending agency will receive appointments as employees with the receiving agency and will be entitled to the same employment benefits as other employees of the receiving agency unless otherwise specified in a written agreement between the sending agency and the receiving agency. Such appointments may be made without regard to any rules or regulations of the receiving agency regarding the selection of employees; but applicable rules of the North Carolina Human Resources Act shall apply to the assigned employees.
(g) Travel Expenses of Employees of Other Governments. - A receiving agency in the State of North Carolina may, in accordance with its travel regulations and travel regulations by law, pay the travel expenses incurred in the course of an assigned employee's duties or incurred in the course of the duties of an employee on leave with the receiving agency on the same basis as the travel expenses of regular employees are paid.
(h) Administration. - The Commission and any State division, department, agency, instrumentality, authority, or political subdivision participating in an interchange of employees program may promulgate rules or regulations necessary for the administration of such program, so long as such rules or regulations do not conflict with the provisions of this section or any other provision of law. (2026-40, s. 1.)