what is garden leave 
a garden leave refers to the period of time during which an employee stays away from the workplace or works remotely during the notice period the employee remains on the payroll and is in the process of terminating their employment but is neither permitted to go to work nor to commence any other employment during the garden leave understanding garden leavesgarden is a term most commonly used in the financial industry in the u k australia and new zealand massachusetts passed a garden leave clause into law in 2018 making it the first state to do so in the u s 1while the name garden leave may sound pleasant and in fact an employee may sometimes prefer to serve their notice time relaxing at home rather than being in the workplace the restrictive nature and negative implications of this leave can make it less than ideal garden leave is a protectionist measure used by an employer when an employee is terminated or when they tender their resignation once in effect it often prevents the employee from being involved in any work activity for their current employer and typically restricts them from either taking on another job or working for themselves an employee is generally likely to spend their time pursuing hobbies such as gardening hence the term garden leave salaries and benefits continue until the end of the leave period garden leave is sometimes considered to be a euphemism for being suspended and can be perceived to have negative connotations such as the employee being unfit for anything other than tending to their garden the garden leave helps protect an employer s interests when an employee tenders a resignation or is given a dismissal notice reasons for instigating a garden leavefollowing the resignation or dismissal of an employee an employer may decide to place the employee on garden leave the primary reason for doing so is to safeguard against possible detrimental actions or behavior that the employee might indulge in during their notice period the employer may fear that the employee could become uncooperative or that they may negatively influence the working environment and other employees the employer may also prefer that the employee limit contact with clients for fear the employee may persuade clients to follow them to their new employer another reason for implementing a garden leave is that the employee may have access to up to date information that could be beneficial to the employer s competitors placing an employee on garden leave could help ensure that by the time the employee is contractually free they would have been out of the loop long enough to reduce any possible threat garden leave can be an employer s way of taking the employee off the market for a period of time which is why some employers may opt for this method rather than ending the employment abruptly with a cash settlement in lieu of notice 