What Is Garden Leave?
Garden leave occurs when your employer instructs you to stay away from the workplace during your notice period — but continues to pay your full salary and maintain your contractual benefits throughout. The name originates from the idea that you have nothing to do but tend to the garden. In practice, it is used by employers who want to keep you away from clients, colleagues, sensitive information, or competitors while your notice period runs down.
It is most commonly used for senior employees, sales staff, or anyone with significant access to confidential information or client relationships. But it can apply to any worker whose contract permits it.
Does Your Contract Have to Allow It?
This is a crucial point that many workers do not realise: your employer cannot place you on garden leave unless your contract of employment specifically provides for it. There is no automatic legal right for an employer to instruct you to stay at home during your notice period. If your contract is silent on garden leave, you have the right to attend work and perform your duties during your notice. Refusing to let you do so — without a contractual right — could constitute a breach of contract.
Always check your contract before accepting any garden leave instruction. If no garden leave clause exists, you are within your rights to challenge it.
What You Are Entitled to During Garden Leave
Provided the garden leave is contractually valid, your employer must continue to provide everything you would ordinarily receive during employment. This includes:
Your full contractual salary, paid on your normal pay date Continued pension contributions at the normal rate Private healthcare, company car, or other contractual benefits Holiday accrual — your statutory and contractual holiday continues to build up during garden leave Notice pay — garden leave counts as part of your notice period, so your notice is running throughout Your employer cannot reduce your pay during garden leave. If they attempt to do so, this is likely to amount to an unlawful deduction of wages and potentially a breach of contract — which could entitle you to resign and claim constructive dismissal.
What You Can and Cannot Do During Garden Leave
This is where many workers make costly mistakes. During garden leave, you remain a full employee of the company. That means your contractual obligations are still in force.
What you generally cannot do:
Work for a competitor — even on a self-employed or freelance basis — if your contract includes a restrictive covenant prohibiting it during the notice period Contact clients or customers of your employer if you have been instructed not to Share or use confidential information for any purpose outside your employment Disclose commercially sensitive details to a new employer before your garden leave ends What you can do:
Begin looking and applying for new jobs — there is nothing unlawful about searching for work during garden leave Retrain, study, or develop new skills — provided this does not breach any contractual restrictions Start a new role once your garden leave period has formally ended, unless post-termination restrictive covenants apply (these are separate from garden leave restrictions and must be reasonable in scope and duration to be enforceable) Garden Leave and Redundancy — What You Need to Know
If you are being made redundant, garden leave can sometimes be used by employers as a way of running down your notice period. This is lawful provided the contractual right exists. However, there are important points to be aware of:
Your redundancy payment is calculated separately from your garden leave period and is based on your age, length of service, and weekly pay — not on whether you were placed on garden leave. Garden leave does not reduce your redundancy entitlement.
If your employer places you on garden leave and then fails to pay you for any part of that period, this is a serious breach of contract. You should seek advice immediately.
Restrictive Covenants — How Long Do They Last After Garden Leave Ends?
Many employment contracts include post-termination restrictions — clauses that attempt to prevent you from working for a competitor, contacting former clients, or poaching colleagues for a set period after your employment ends. These are separate from garden leave restrictions and begin running from the date your employment terminates, not from the start of your garden leave.
Importantly, courts will only enforce restrictive covenants that are reasonable in scope, duration, and geographical reach. An overly broad restriction — for example, preventing you from working in your entire industry for 12 months — may not be enforceable. Always seek legal advice before assuming a restrictive covenant is binding.
Key Facts at a Glance
Garden leave requires a specific contractual clause — your employer cannot impose it without one Your full salary and benefits must continue throughout You remain a full employee and your contractual obligations remain in force You can look for new work but cannot start a competing role until garden leave ends (subject to restrictive covenants) Holiday continues to accrue — you may be able to take holiday during this period with your employer's agreement Garden leave counts toward your notice period and does not affect your redundancy entitlement If your employer stops paying you during garden leave, take action immediately Take Action
If you are on garden leave, have been placed on garden leave as part of a redundancy process, or are unsure whether your employer's instructions are lawful, do not wait. Understanding your rights now protects you from making costly mistakes later.
👉 Know your redundancy rights: https://myredundancyrights.co.uk 👉 Use our free Redundancy Pay Calculator to check what you are owed 👉 Download our free Redundancy Action Plan 👉 Find a solicitor through our Employment Law Partner Network if you need professional advice
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