Garden leave: what it means and what your rights are

What is garden leave?

Garden leave, sometimes called gardening leave, is when your employer requires you to stay away from work during your notice period while you remain employed and on full pay. You keep your salary and contractual benefits and stay bound by your duties, including confidentiality and not competing with or soliciting clients or staff. Employers use it most often with senior or client-facing staff, to keep them away from clients, colleagues and confidential information before they join a competitor. The name comes from the (rarely literal) idea that an employee sent home with nothing to do might as well tend the garden.

What are the garden leave rules and do I still get paid?

Yes, you are paid as normal throughout, including salary, pension contributions and any other contractual benefits, because you remain an employee until your notice period ends. In return, you are usually expected to remain available to your employer, keep confidential information confidential, and not work for anyone else or approach clients and colleagues, even though you are not attending the workplace. Use oursettlement calculator if garden leave forms part of a wider exit package you are weighing up.

Do I need a garden leave clause in my contract?

Usually yes. An employer generally needs an express garden leave clause in your contract to enforce it. Without one, requiring you to stay away from work rather than let you actually work your notice can, in some cases, amount to a breach of contract, particularly in roles where the right to work matters, such as where pay is commission-based or where working is important to maintaining skills or profile. If your contract has no garden leave clause and your employer is insisting on it anyway, that is worth raising, ideally alongside a review of your settlement agreementif one is on the table.

Garden leave vs pay in lieu of notice (PILON)

The two are often confused but work differently. On garden leave, your employment continues and you are paid as usual through the whole notice period, remaining bound by your contract until it ends. With PILON, your employment ends immediately and you are paid a lump sum covering your notice instead of working it. Garden leave keeps you tied to the business, and its restrictions, for longer; PILON gives you a clean break sooner. See our PILON guide and our guide tonotice periods for more detail.

Can I start a new job while on garden leave?

Generally no, not until your notice period ends. You are still employed and bound by your existing contract during garden leave, so starting work for a new employer in the meantime is normally a breach of contract. Restrictive covenants, such as non-compete or non-solicitation clauses, can also still apply once garden leave finishes, although time spent on garden leave may count towards reducing their effective length depending on how your contract is drafted. Check the wording carefully, or have it checked, before agreeing a start date with a new employer.

Garden leave: frequently asked questions