Garden leave — also written gardening leave — is the practice of requiring an employee who has resigned or been given notice to stay away from work during their notice period, while remaining employed and fully paid. The name is British, and literal: the employee is at home, notionally tending the garden.

The purpose is to keep someone away from clients, colleagues and current information while their notice runs down, without releasing them to a competitor.

It isn’t a leave type

This is the detail that matters most and gets stated least.

Garden leave is a notice-period arrangement, not an absence. The employee remains employed throughout: pay and contractual benefits continue, the duties of confidentiality, fidelity and exclusivity continue, the employer can recall them to work, and holiday continues to accrue.

That last point is the one that reaches a leave system. Accrual doesn’t pause, so an employee on three months’ garden leave finishes with three months’ extra holiday — which the employer then pays out unless it has been used. Most employers require accrued holiday to be taken during the period for exactly that reason. In the UK, the instruction carries a formal notice rule: under regulation 15 of the Working Time Regulations, requiring leave on particular days needs notice twice as long as the leave itself — six days’ notice to require three days off.

United States

Garden leave is less common, partly because at-will employment makes long notice periods unusual — and where the term is used, it often means something different.

Under the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act, a “garden leave clause” is a provision by which the employer agrees to pay the employee during the post-termination restricted period, at a rate of at least 50% of the employee’s highest annualized base salary over the preceding two years, pro rata, with that period capped at 12 months. That’s payment after employment ends, not during notice. Same phrase, different mechanism.

The backdrop: the FTC’s nationwide non-compete ban never took effect. It was struck down in 2024 and the Commission abandoned its appeals in September 2025, leaving restrictive covenants to state law — which ranges from near-total prohibition to routine enforcement.

Canada

Garden leave is lawful but not codified; it lives in the employment contract. The practical point is the same as in the UK: you need an express clause. Imposing it without one — stripping an employee of duties during notice — can support a constructive dismissal claim. Statutory notice entitlements under the Canada Labour Code or the relevant provincial standards run regardless.

Internationally

The UK is where the concept originates, and where the case law sits. The key authority is William Hill Organisation Ltd v Tucker (1998): without an express garden leave term, the Court of Appeal held the employer had to let a skilled employee actually perform his duties during notice. Some employees have a right to work, not merely a right to be paid — the clause is not optional boilerplate.

Courts also scrutinise length. Garden leave is a restraint of trade like any other, and a period longer than the employer’s legitimate interest justifies may not be enforced. Well-drafted contracts set garden leave off against any subsequent non-compete, so the two don’t stack.

The practice is standard in financial services across Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, on the same contractual basis.

Frequently asked questions

Is garden leave paid? Yes — full salary and contractual benefits continue, because the employee is still employed.

Can an employer force garden leave? Only with an express contractual right in most jurisdictions. Without one it may be a breach, and the employee may be entitled to treat the contract as at an end.

Does holiday accrue during garden leave? Yes. Employers commonly require accrued leave to be taken during the period rather than paid out afterwards.

Can you work elsewhere during garden leave? No. The duty of exclusivity continues, so taking another job — particularly with a competitor — breaches the contract.

Is garden leave the same as a non-compete? No. Garden leave is paid and runs during notice; a non-compete applies after employment ends. Massachusetts is the exception, using the phrase for post-termination pay.

---

This entry is general information, not legal advice. Garden leave and restrictive covenant rules vary by country and US state — have any clause reviewed before relying on it.