If you have ever resigned from a UK job and been told not to come in for your remaining weeks — while still being paid — you have experienced garden leave. It is a feature of many employment contracts, particularly in finance, sales, technology, recruitment, and senior roles, yet it is widely misunderstood. Employees often assume it is a holiday, while in reality their obligations to their employer continue throughout. This guide explains what garden leave is, why employers use it, what you can and cannot do during it, and how it affects your pay, holiday, and your move to a new role. It is general guidance, not legal advice — for your specific situation, consult Acas.
What Garden Leave Actually Means
Garden leave is the practice of requiring an employee to stay away from work during all or part of their notice period while remaining employed and on full pay. The name comes from the idea that you are at home — tending the garden — rather than in the office. Crucially, you are still an employee of the company: your contract has not ended, your salary and benefits usually continue, and the duties of loyalty and confidentiality you owe your employer remain fully in force until your final day.
Garden leave most often applies after you have resigned, but an employer can also place you on it if they have given you notice. It is distinct from being suspended (which relates to disciplinary investigations) and from being made redundant. The key point is that it is a continuation of employment, not a break from it — which is exactly why the obligations matter. Garden leave typically comes into play once notice has been served, so it sits alongside the rules covered in our guide to notice periods in the UK explained.
Why Employers Use Garden Leave
Employers do not put people on garden leave to be generous; they do it to protect the business. The most common reason is to keep a departing employee away from clients, colleagues, and confidential information during the sensitive handover window — especially if you are leaving to join a competitor. By keeping you employed but out of the building, the company stops you from taking commercially sensitive knowledge straight into a rival operation while it is still fresh.
Garden leave also buys time. It allows the employer to transfer your client relationships and responsibilities to other staff before you can contact those clients on behalf of a new employer, and it keeps you out of the market for the duration of your notice. For senior or client-facing roles, a long notice period combined with garden leave effectively functions as a cooling-off period that protects the employer's interests. This is why garden leave clauses are common in the same contracts that contain restrictive covenants and non-compete terms.
What You Can and Cannot Do During Garden Leave
This is where misunderstandings cause real problems. Because you are still employed, you must continue to follow the terms of your contract. That generally means you must remain available to your employer if they need you (for handover questions, for example), you must not start working for your new employer until your employment formally ends, and you must not contact clients, suppliers, or colleagues for business purposes. You also remain bound by confidentiality — you cannot share or use the company's confidential information.
What you generally can do is take genuine time off, prepare for your next role in a general sense, and get on with your life. Your employer usually still expects you not to be unreachable for the entire period. You should also not take up other paid work during garden leave unless your contract or your employer expressly permits it, because you are being paid by your current employer for that time. If in doubt about a specific activity, ask your employer in writing — the rules can vary by contract, and getting clarity protects you. Because the move to a new role is on hold until garden leave ends, it is worth coordinating start dates carefully; our guide on handling a counter-offer is also relevant if your current employer tries to keep you during this window.
Pay, Holiday, and Benefits on Garden Leave
During garden leave you are normally entitled to your full pay and contractual benefits, exactly as if you were working. This includes salary, and usually continued accrual of holiday, pension contributions, and benefits such as private healthcare, unless your contract states otherwise. Because holiday continues to accrue, many employers require you to take some or all of your outstanding annual leave during the garden leave period — they are generally allowed to do this provided they give the correct notice.
Bonuses and commission can be more complicated and depend heavily on the wording of your contract and any scheme rules, so check these carefully if a significant part of your earnings is variable. One practical point: garden leave does not change your final employment date, so your continuity of service, P45, and the date your restrictive covenants start to run are all measured from the end of the garden leave period. If your move involves negotiating your overall package, the principles in our UK salary negotiation guide apply to discussions about garden leave terms and notice buyouts too. As with any employment matter, if money is in dispute, get advice from Acas or an employment specialist before acting.
FAQ
- Do I get paid during garden leave?
- Yes. Garden leave means you remain employed on full pay and usually keep your contractual benefits, including pension contributions and accruing holiday, throughout the period — unless your contract specifically states otherwise. You are simply required to stay away from work rather than perform your duties.
- Can I start my new job while on garden leave?
- No. You are still employed by your current employer until your garden leave ends, so you cannot begin working for a new employer during that time. Doing so would usually breach your contract. Your new start date must fall after your existing employment formally ends.
- Can my employer make me take holiday during garden leave?
- Generally yes. Because holiday continues to accrue while you are employed, employers are usually entitled to require you to use outstanding annual leave during garden leave, provided they give the statutory or contractual notice. This is a common way to reduce the holiday owed at your final settlement.
- Is garden leave the same as suspension?
- No. Garden leave applies during a notice period to keep a departing employee away from work and clients, with no implication of wrongdoing. Suspension is typically linked to a disciplinary investigation. Both keep you employed and paid, but they arise for entirely different reasons.
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