Garden leave (also called 'gardening leave') is an arrangement during an executive's notice period where they are kept on full pay but barred from coming into the office, accessing company systems, or working for a competitor. It is a standard protective mechanism in UK employment agreements and increasingly common for senior US executives. The executive remains employed — and therefore typically cannot start a new role — until garden leave expires.
How Garden Leave Works
When an executive resigns or is asked to leave, the employer activates the garden leave provision in their employment agreement. During this period — typically 1 to 6 months — the executive continues to receive their full salary and benefits but is not required (or permitted) to work. They are effectively removed from the business while still contractually bound to the employer.
The practical effect is that the executive cannot join a competitor, contact clients, or take any role that would compete with their employer during the garden leave period. This gives the employer time to protect client relationships, brief the team on the transition, and in some cases identify a successor.
Garden Leave — Key Terms
Why Employers Use Garden Leave
Garden leave serves three employer interests: it prevents the executive from taking sensitive knowledge directly to a competitor, it protects client and employee relationships during a transition, and it supplements or replaces a non-compete clause in jurisdictions where non-competes are difficult to enforce.
In the UK, where non-competes are narrowly enforced compared to the US, garden leave provisions are the primary mechanism for protecting business interests. The executive is still employed — which means they are still bound by implied duties of loyalty and confidentiality — making garden leave more legally reliable than a post-employment non-compete.
“A candidate on garden leave is available in conversation but not in practice. Mapping the end date of garden leave before extending an offer prevents the situation where a strong hire has a start date 5 months out — long after the company assumed they'd be in seat.”
Garden Leave and Executive Search Timelines
From a hiring perspective, garden leave extends the effective notice period. A candidate with a 3-month notice period that includes a garden leave clause may be available physically but not legally free to start employment until the period expires. This needs to be established early in the offer process.
In some cases, employers who are eager to secure a candidate will negotiate to buy out the remaining garden leave period — paying the candidate's former employer the salary owed through the end of the notice — to allow an early start. This is more common in the UK and Australia than in the US.