Garden leave - spending time in the garden?

Employees are put on "garden leave" when their employers want to stop them from performing their regular duties whilst working out their employment notice period. During garden leave, employers usually want employees to stay at home (in the garden) so they are kept away from customers during their notice period. Keeping them away from customers minimises the risk that they might try to persuade customers to follow them to their new place of employment.

During periods of garden leave, an employee is still employed and they remain bound by their contract of employment and their obligations to the employer. Whislt an employee stays on garden leave during their notice period, an employer is required to continue to pay salary and provide all contractual benefits, eg a company car until the employment notice period is over.

In order for someone to be put on garden leave it's crucial that the written contract of employment contains an express term giving the employer the right to do so. In the absence of a 'garden leave' clause, an employer would be breaching the contract of employment if they sent an employee home. One consequence of breaching the terms of employment is that the employee might choose to resign and claim that they have been unfairly constructively dismissed. Also, if the employer fundamentally breached the contract of employment, they would be unable to rely upon other restrictive provisions in the contract - for example, an employee could resign and leave immediately to join a competitor and be free of any restrictive convenants.

Placing an employee on garden leave during a notice period is a useful tool for an employer when they would like to protect legitimate business interests including goodwill and confidential information. However, businesses must take care only to place employees on garden leave when their employment contract includes an appropriate garden leave clause, otherwise there could be a breach in the terms of employment.

For further information or to make a free initial half house appointment contact David Coward, Head of Employment Law at Sampson Coward in Salisbury on 01722 410664 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.