You resign. Your employer says thank you, then tells you not to come back in. You are still paid. You are still employed.

You just are not in the building. That is gardening leave in the UK that employers use every day, and it confuses almost everyone the first time it happens to them.

What Is Garden Leave UK?

It is a period during an employee’s notice when the employer instructs them to stay at home rather than attend the workplace, while still paying full salary and contractual benefits. The employee remains under contract the entire time. They just have no active duties, no system access, and no client contact.

The mechanism began in the 1980s in the City of London, used to stop senior financial services staff carrying sensitive deal information straight to a competitor.

It spread from finance into law, technology, and any role where knowledge or client relationships carry real commercial value. Today it is a standard tool wherever an employer wants distance between a departing employee and the business, without ending employment early.

Garden Leave or Gardening Leave: Is There a Difference?

Garden leave or gardening leave is just one term with two spellings. Both refer to the exact same arrangement. The phrase gardening leave nods to the idea of an employee at home, tending the garden, while their notice period quietly runs down.

Legal documents tend to favour garden leave, while everyday conversation leans toward gardening leave. Use either, and every UK HR professional will know exactly what you mean.

Garden Leave in Employment Law

Garden leave in employment law comes down to one key fact: there is no dedicated UK statute called the Garden Leave Act. No specific legislation names or regulates it directly.

Instead, garden leave operates entirely through the employment contract, sitting on top of general contract law and the Employment Rights Act 1996, which governs notice periods more broadly.

This matters enormously. Because garden leave is contractual rather than statutory, an employer generally cannot impose it unless the contract explicitly allows for it. Without a garden leave clause, forcing an employee to stay home during notice, while withholding their right to work, can amount to a breach of contract.

UK Garden Leave Policy: What a Compliant Clause Looks Like

A properly drafted UK garden leave policy inside an employment contract typically covers:

Employers drafting or reviewing this policy should keep the restrictions proportionate. UK courts have consistently upheld broad garden leave clauses where the employer can point to a genuine business interest, such as protecting client relationships or confidential information, but a clause with no clear purpose is more vulnerable to challenge.

Garden Leave Notice Period: How It Actually Works

The garden leave notice period is not a separate period tacked onto your notice. It runs concurrently with it. If your contract requires three months notice, garden leave simply fills that same three months, minus any days you may have already worked before being sent home.

Statutory minimum notice, set out under section 86 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, still applies underneath whatever your contract says:

A contract can offer more than this statutory floor, and most senior contracts do, but it can never offer less. If your contract states one week’s notice and you have five years of service, the five week statutory minimum overrides the contract regardless of what was originally agreed. Our broader notice period in the UK guide covers these rules in more detail.

How Long Does Gardening Leave Last?

The tenure of gardening leave depends entirely on the length of the notice period written into the contract. For junior roles, that might be one month.

For senior executives, directors, or anyone with access to genuinely sensitive information, three, six, or even twelve months is common. There is no statutory cap on how long garden leave itself can run, since it simply mirrors whatever notice period the parties agreed.

That said, excessively long garden leave clauses have faced scrutiny in employment disputes, particularly where an employee argues the length goes beyond what is needed to protect a legitimate business interest.

A twelve-month garden leave clause for a junior administrative role, for instance, would be far harder for an employer to justify than the same clause for a senior trader with live client relationships.

Garden Leave Rules: What Employees Can and Cannot Do

Garden leave rules work in both directions. Employees keep certain rights while accepting real restrictions.

What continues:

• Full contractual salary, paid exactly as before
• Pension contributions at the normal rate
• Accrued holiday, which keeps building throughout the period
• Statutory employment protections under the Employment Rights Act 1996 and related legislation

What is restricted:

• No attending the workplace or performing normal duties
• No contact with clients, suppliers, or colleagues in a working capacity
• No starting a new job, since the employee remains bound by their existing contract
• Continued confidentiality obligations regarding company information

Can You Start a New Job During Gardening Leave?

No. This is one of the most misunderstood points in gardening leave employee rights. Being placed on garden leave does not end your employment.

You remain contractually bound to your current employer for the full duration, which means taking up new employment elsewhere, even part time or freelance work that competes with your employer business, breaches your existing contract.

Employees keen to start earning sooner sometimes negotiate an early release from garden leave instead, though the employer is under no obligation to agree to this.

Are You Paid During Gardening Leave UK?

Yes, in full. This is non-negotiable under a properly applied garden leave clause. You receive your normal contractual salary, your normal benefits, and your pension contributions continue exactly as if you were still turning up to work.

If an employer stops paying, or reduces pay during garden leave, that is a breach of contract, and it can give the employee grounds to resign and claim constructive dismissal.

Garden Leave vs Notice Period UK: Spotting the Difference

Garden leave vs notice period is a distinction worth getting precisely right, because the two terms are often used interchangeably when they are not quite the same thing.

A notice period is the timeframe itself. Garden leave is one specific way an employer can choose to manage that timeframe, keeping the employee paid and employed but physically absent.

Garden Leave Redundancy: How the Two Interact

Garden leave redundancy situations are common, particularly when a role is being made redundant immediately, but the employer still wants a clean, controlled exit. Garden leave and redundancy are not mutually exclusive. An employee can be made redundant and simultaneously placed on garden leave for their notice period.

Crucially, garden leave does not reduce statutory redundancy pay. Redundancy compensation is calculated independently, based on age, length of continuous service, and weekly pay, regardless of whether the employee worked their notice or spent it on garden leave.

From 6 April 2026, statutory weekly pay used in redundancy calculations is capped at 751 pounds for redundancies from that date onward, a figure worth checking against current GOV.UK guidance since it is reviewed annually.

How to Get Gardening Leave When Resigning

Employees sometimes want to request garden leave themselves, often to create a clean break before starting a new role. Getting gardening leave when resigning usually comes down to negotiation rather than entitlement.

Since garden leave is typically the employer contractual right to invoke, not the employee, an employee cannot usually demand it outright unless the contract specifically allows for mutual agreement.

Practical steps that improve the odds:

• Check the contract first. If a garden leave clause already exists, ask HR directly whether it will be applied.
• Raise it during the resignation conversation. Many employers are open to it, particularly if the relationship is amicable and there is limited handover value in the employee remaining presence.
• Offer a compromise. Some employees propose a shorter working notice followed by garden leave for the remainder, easing the transition for both sides.
• Get any agreement in writing. Verbal assurances about garden leave, pay, or an early finish date should always be confirmed in writing before the employee makes plans around them.

PILON vs Garden Leave: A Related but Different Route

Employers sometimes choose payment in lieu of notice (PILON) instead of garden leave. PILON ends employment immediately, with a lump sum paid covering what the employee would have earned during notice.

Garden leave, by contrast, keeps employment technically alive until the notice period ends. This distinction matters for restrictive covenants, since post-termination restrictions typically run from the actual last day of employment, and garden leave pushes that date further back than an immediate PILON termination would.

Practical Tips for Employers Managing Garden Leave

• Put it in writing every time. Even where a garden leave clause exists in the contract, confirm in writing when it is being invoked and for how long.
• Remove system access promptly but do so professionally and at a time that does not embarrass the employee unnecessarily.
• Track holiday accrual carefully, since untaken leave still needs settling at the end of employment, and getting this wrong is a common source of final pay disputes.
• Keep communication lines open for handover questions, since garden leave restricts attendance, not all contact.
• Review clause length regularly, especially for junior roles, to avoid a garden leave period that looks disproportionate if it were ever challenged.

Final Thoughts

Garden leave sits in an odd space. It looks generous from the outside, full pay for doing nothing, but it exists primarily to protect the employer’s business interests, not to reward the departing employee.

Understanding your gardening leave employee rights, whether you are the one leaving or the one managing the exit, prevents the most common disputes: unpaid benefits, disputed holiday, and confusion over whether a new job can start early. When in doubt, check the contract first, then confirm anything agreed in writing.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is garden leave in the UK? 

It is a period during an employee’s notice when the employer requires them to stay away from work while continuing to pay full salary and benefits. The employee remains employed and bound by their contract throughout. 

Is garden leave a bad thing for employees? 

Not usually. Employees keep full pay, benefits, and accrued holiday. The main downside is being unable to start a new job or work elsewhere until the notice period, and garden leave, formally ends.

What happens if you don’t work your notice in the UK? 

If you leave without working your notice and without agreement, you risk breaching your contract. Your employer could withhold pay for the unworked period or, rarely, pursue a claim for resulting losses. 

Do you have to work your notice in the UK? 

Generally, yes, unless your employer agrees to waive it, offers payment in lieu of notice, or places you on garden leave instead. Your contract sets the baseline notice requirement either side must follow. 

Why is it called gardening leave? 

The name comes from the image of an employee at home tending their garden while paid and still technically employed. It originated in 1980s City of London finance to manage sensitive departures. 

What is the purpose of gardening leave? 

It protects the employer’s business interests, keeping a departing employee away from clients, confidential information, and systems during notice, while their post-termination restrictions and contractual notice period continue running. 

What are my rights on gardening leave? 

You are entitled to full contractual pay, benefits, and continued holiday and pension accrual. You retain statutory employment protections but cannot start new work or contact clients on the employer’s behalf. 

What are the rules of garden leave? 

Your employer needs a contractual garden leave clause to enforce it. You continue receiving full pay and benefits, remain bound by confidentiality obligations, and cannot take up new employment until your notice period ends. 

Can you start a new job during gardening leave in the UK? 

No. You remain contractually employed by your current employer throughout garden leave, so starting new work, even freelance or part-time, would breach your existing contract unless your employer agrees otherwise. 

Can an employer refuse gardening leave in the UK? 

Yes. Garden leave is usually the employer’s contractual right to invoke, not the employee’s automatic entitlement. Without a relevant clause or mutual agreement, an employer can require the employee to work their notice instead. 

Are you paid during gardening leave in the UK? 

Yes, in full. Employees on garden leave receive their normal contractual salary and benefits throughout, exactly as if they were still attending work, since they remain formally employed until notice ends. 

What is the difference between gardening leave and notice period in the UK? 

A notice period is the timeframe before employment ends. Garden leave is one way of managing that timeframe, where the employee is paid and employed but not required to attend work or perform duties.