What is Gardening Leave in Employment Law?

Last Updated on 7 October 2025 by Rebecca Young

Gardening leave is when an employee has handed in their notice and is asked not to undertake work or attend work during their notice period.

What is gardening leave & why is it called gardening leave?

Why is gardening leave called gardening leave? Simply, it’s just a reference to what an employee might do at this time, perhaps working on their garden or sunning themselves in it. Maybe it needs updating to include more modern hobbies and interests!

During garden leave, they remain an employee and receive the same pay and contractual benefits until their notice period ends, but are restricted from working, talking to colleagues and clients, or undertaking any duties unless specified.

We have also created this handy Garden Leave Calculator for our clients to use

Gardening leave can offer benefits for the employee and for employers

Garden leave can offer benefits for the employee, but also benefits employers. Perhaps you’d like to protect sensitive information by restricting employees from accessing confidential information before they move to a new company.

Maybe you’d like to hire for the role without crossover, or, in the case of a positive exit, to offer the valued employee a buffer of time in between starting their new role. There are many great reasons to have a gardening leave policy in your contract.

In this article, we’ll explore the garden leave rules and how to build a policy so that you’re always on the right side of employment law.

Why, when and how employers use gardening leave

So, what is garden leave, why might you get it, and what are employee rights on gardening leave? If you want to explain everything to your employees, you need to have a clause to cover you. Here's what to include and some of the finer details.

Why do employers use garden leave?

Garden leave is a restrictive covenant in a contract, and as such, is most often used when it's important to restrict an employee in order to protect the business.

When do employers use gardening leave?

Commonly, this is when an employee has a new role with a competitor, and it can be used to put space between the time they depart and when they start, limiting access instantly to trade information, clients or discussions with colleagues.

Redundancy is a huge point to consider, particularly as the ILO redundancy rate stats showing an increase per quarter of redundancy in the UK to 4.2 per 1,000 employees confirmed March 2025.

The harsh reality is that many employees and employers may likely be in a position to need redundancy support, and a garden leave summary in your employee handbook is a great way to broach the concept.

Gardening leave policy definition, rules and notice period

Definition of a gardening leave policy

The definition of gardening leave is when an employee, for the duration of their notice period, receives a salary but is not required to work. It's a restrictive process similar to a suspension that prevents the employee from doing certain things, and there are responsibilities you have as an employee in practice, and what you can expect from an employee during their time on garden leave.

Here's a handy list of gardening leave rules:

These are the main rules, but for full clarity, we recommend contacting an HR helpline to guide you through any garden leave questions you may have. If you also need assistance determining statutory holiday entitlement, consider using our holiday entitlement calculator.

Garden leave notice period

The period for garden leave is typically in line with the pre-agreed, contractually laid out working notice period.

For senior team members for whom protecting information is most important, it is not uncommon for three to six-month periods of garden leave.

Garden leave should be mutually agreed upon, as excessively long periods of garden leave can be detrimental to both parties.

The employee still accrues salary and any contractual benefits, creating costs for the employer, and the employee may lose out on any job opportunities or lose career momentum by not working for a significant part of the year.

As such, it's best to ensure that employees are put on leave as long as it's required to offer adequate protection of your interest, to hire for a new role, and ensure all the necessary handover information has been passed over. Always check with the relevant employment law rules, or speak to your HR advisor.

How does garden leave work?

An employee will hand in their notice, or in the case of constructive dismissal or redundancy, be told that their employment has come to an end.

The employer has an opportunity to invoke a garden leave clause, and should offer, in writing, the details of what garden leave entails and requires, as well as the end date of employment.

The employee should be asked to return any devices and other information.

It's important to reiterate that the employee should be available during garden leave, while not actively working, they should be on hand. This limits things such as travelling abroad or completely 'checking out' of the business. Discussing this early on lays down the expectations for the period.

Garden leave clause example

So, what does a garden leave clause look like? We have included an example contract clause used by employers to guide you, but always check with your HR advisor on the best course of action for your company.

How to get garden leave when resigning & other scenarios

Employees may see lots of appeal in being paid to not actively work, and perhaps this is why a huge search term on Google is "how to get gardening leave when resigning!".

Employees can request garden leave, even if the contract doesn't specifically include clauses for them to have it, although the ultimate decision is for the employer to make.

Realistically, it's preferable to have employees work their notice period for a smooth handover rather than paying them to be on garden leave.

Here are some scenarios to be aware of that may arise around garden leave.

Requesting garden leave

"Can I request garden leave?" is something you may hear a lot, especially in the case of constructive dismissal or redundancy.

It's wise to have a frank discussion to ascertain the reasons for this. Perhaps there is little for the employee to do, or they feel that they can't add further value, or that the relationship has reached its limits.

While the employer holds the final decision, garden leave should always be carefully considered.

An employee who is granted garden leave should have this confirmed as part of a written agreement.

What if garden leave is not in the contract?

Garden leave not in contract? When an employee can't see a specific clause around garden leave in their contract, but they have been put on garden leave, they could open a legal case.

However, to rule in the favour of the employee, the court would need to assess if the employee had a right to work, or just a right to be paid. If the employee was paid for the period, legally pursuing this could be an expensive route for an employee to take.

As you can see, it makes a lot of sense to have a thorough garden leave clause in your employee contracts that summarises what garden leave is, and the option to invoke it!

Garden Leave Faqs

What does garden leave mean, and why is it called garden leave?

Garden leave means an employee is still employed but doesn't need to do work during their notice period, although they can't undertake new employment. It is called garden leave as this is a time where they can tend to their garden.

What is garden leave from work and how can it effect employers?

Garden leave from work can be offered to employees to prevent them from working their notice period. It affects employers as the employee must still be paid and receive any statutory benefits, without any work being completed.

What is gardening leave in employment law?

Garden leave refers to the contractual agreement that allows employers to pay an employee their normal salary for the duration of the notice whilst specifying that they do not attend work.

What are the rules of gardening leave for employers?

Employers must continue to pay the salary, contractual benefits, and statutory minimums, for example, for annual leave, sick pay, and pension contributions.

What if gardening leave is not in the contract for our employees?

Employees can request at the employer's discretion, and employers can offer it too. However, if leave is enforced without a contractual clause to do so, an employee may have a cause to claim an unfair dismissal and a right to work a notice period. Employers without garden leave clauses may look to invoke a PILON clause as an alternative.

How long is garden leave, and how long does gardening leave last?

Are you wondering "how long is gardening leave?", the answer is given contractually: garden leave should be the length as stated in the notice period in the contractual agreement between the company and the employee.

What is gardening leave, and why might you get it?

Here's your answer to the question 'what is gardening leave?': Gardening leave is a clause in an employee contract that requires employees to no longer work but to remain employed for the duration of their notice period and to stay at home. It is used to protect sensitive business information, especially if employees will go on to work with competitors.

Garden leave redundancy: how does garden leave work for employers looking at redundancies?

A statutory redundancy payment may work out more cost-effective than a long period of paid garden leave in the case of garden leave redundancy. Employers should assess on a case-by-case basis.

Can an employee request garden leave?

During an exit or redundancy discussion, an employee can request garden leave. However, the decision is for the employer to have the final say on.

What does gardening leave employee rights entail?

Employees have a right during gardening leave to still receive their salary and contractual benefits, including holiday and sick pay, parental leave and statutory minimums. In turn, they must be available to the business.

How does garden leave work during the notice period?

An employer can ask that the employee is available but not actively working. The employee can also be asked to come to a place of work. The employee will likely be asked to hand back devices and may be prevented from talking to colleagues or clients. During the notice period, they may be compelled to take residual outstanding holiday days.

Can my employee get gardening leave when resigning?

An employee can request when resigning. If granted, this should be documented between the employer and employee.