Garden leave rights — what your employer can and can't do
Being placed on garden leave feels like being frozen out, but you retain your full employment rights. Understanding those rights is essential — especially if you are being asked to sign new restrictive covenants or if your employer is trying to reduce your pay.
On garden leave? Know exactly what your employer can and can't do
Know your garden leave rights
What is garden leave?
Garden leave (or "gardening leave") is when your employer tells you not to come to work during your notice period, but continues to pay your full salary and benefits. You remain employed, cannot work for a competitor, and are effectively sidelined until your notice expires.
Can my employer put me on garden leave without my consent?
Only if there is an express garden leave clause in your contract. Without one, unilaterally placing you on garden leave could be a breach of contract — particularly if your role involves commission, bonuses, or maintaining skills that require regular practice.
Do I get full pay on garden leave?
Yes. You must receive your full contractual salary and benefits during garden leave. Your employer cannot reduce your pay simply because you are not working. You also continue to accrue holiday entitlement.
Can I work for a competitor during garden leave?
Not without risking a breach of your implied duty of fidelity and possibly an injunction. Your contract likely also contains post-termination restrictive covenants that remain active after garden leave ends.
How long can garden leave last?
Garden leave can last for the full length of your notice period. Courts may reduce an excessively long garden leave to a reasonable period if it causes disproportionate harm to your career prospects.
Garden leave rights — what your employer can and can't do
Last updated: April 2026
You must receive your full contractual salary during garden leave
You remain an employee and accrue holiday and pension during garden leave
Employers can only enforce garden leave if the contract expressly permits it
What garden leave actually means in practice
Garden leave arises when an employee resigns (or is dismissed) and serves their notice period at home, paid but excluded from the workplace. The name comes from the idea of having nothing to do but tend your garden.
During garden leave you remain a full employee. Your employer must continue paying your salary, benefits, and pension contributions. You continue to accrue holiday. You cannot start work with a new employer unless the garden leave ends early by mutual agreement.
Employers use garden leave to protect their business interests — keeping you away from clients and competitors during the sensitive transition period. This is legitimate, but only if your contract expressly permits it.
What your employer can and cannot do during garden leave
- Exclude you from the office and revoke system access
- Instruct you not to contact clients or colleagues
- Require you not to work for a competitor during the notice period
- Request your return of company property and confidential information
- Call you back into work during the garden leave period (if the contract permits)
✗ Your employer CANNOT
- Reduce your pay or stop paying you
- Stop your bonus or commission that has already been earned
- Put you on garden leave without a contractual clause authorising it
- Enforce post-termination restrictions longer than is reasonable
- Prevent you from contacting your professional indemnity insurer or legal adviser
Garden leave vs PILON — what is the difference?
The two are often confused but are legally distinct:
| Feature | Garden leave | PILON |
|---|
Common garden leave questions
Garden leave versus payment in lieu of notice
Garden leave and payment in lieu of notice (PILON) are both ways of ending employment quickly, but they have different legal consequences — particularly for restrictive covenants and benefit accrual.
Garden leave: employed but not working
On garden leave, the employment contract remains live throughout the notice period. You remain an employee and continue to accrue all contractual benefits: salary, pension contributions, private medical insurance, share vesting, and any other emoluments. Your employer may prevent you from working for a competitor during this period by relying on your implied duty of fidelity — you cannot work for a rival while you are still technically employed by your current employer.
PILON: employment ends immediately
A payment in lieu of notice terminates the employment contract immediately. You receive a cash sum in place of your notice period rather than serving it. Unless your contract contains an express PILON clause, the employer is technically in breach of contract by paying in lieu — though this is usually treated as an agreed termination rather than a dismissal. Since April 2018, all PILON payments are subject to income tax and national insurance regardless of whether the contract contains an express clause, following changes introduced by the Finance (No. 2) Act 2017.
Effect on restrictive covenants
This is where the distinction matters most in practice. Restrictive covenants in an employment contract — non-solicitation, non-dealing, and non-compete clauses — run from the date employment ends. On garden leave, the covenants start running from the end of the garden leave period, not the start. On PILON, they start immediately. Employers who want maximum covenant protection therefore prefer garden leave; employees who want to move quickly to a competitor may prefer PILON.
Employer breach and its consequences
If your employer places you on garden leave without an express contractual right to do so, they may be in breach of contract. In senior roles where the right to work is itself a term of the contract — as recognised in
William Hill Organisation Ltd v Tucker
[1999] ICR 291 — an employee can challenge garden leave that was imposed unilaterally. In practice, most garden leave clauses are negotiated at the start of employment and included expressly in the contract, making this argument less common but not obsolete.
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