Glossary

Garden Leave

When a departing employee is instructed to stay away from the workplace for the duration of their notice period but is still paid their normal wage. For the duration of garden leave, although the employee is not actually working, they must stick to the rules of their employment agreement.

The most common reason to place an employee on garden leave is to prevent them from collecting sensitive, up-to-date information about the company and passing it on to a potential competitor.

Unless the employee has a specific clause in their employment agreement that allows the employer to direct the worker to take garden leave, this cannot be enforced.