Answers · UK 2025/26

What is garden leave, and do I still get paid during it?

Garden leave is a contractual arrangement where an employer requires an employee to stay away from work during all or part of their notice period, while remaining a full employee, receiving their normal pay and contractual benefits, and generally remaining bound by confidentiality and, sometimes, restrictive covenants. It differs from being placed on notice with pay in lieu, since the employee remains formally employed and often bound by more restrictions until the notice period actually ends.

Last updated: 4 July 2026Last reviewed: 4 July 2026How we verify

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Garden leave (so named from the idea of an employee being sent home to tend their garden rather than attend work) is a specific contractual mechanism, usually available only where the employment contract includes an explicit garden leave clause, under which an employer can require an employee — most commonly one who has resigned or been given notice, particularly in senior, sales, or client-facing roles where the employer wants to limit the employee's ongoing access to sensitive information, clients, or colleagues — to remain away from the workplace during some or all of their notice period, while their employment contract otherwise continues in full force. Crucially, during garden leave, the employee remains a full employee of the company: they continue to receive their normal salary, pension contributions, and other contractual benefits exactly as if they were working, and typically remain bound by all of their normal contractual obligations, including confidentiality, exclusivity (meaning they generally cannot start working for a new employer, including a competitor, until garden leave and the notice period actually end), and any restrictive covenants that apply during employment. This differs meaningfully from being dismissed with a payment in lieu of notice (PILON), where the employment relationship ends immediately and the employee receives a payment covering what their notice period pay would have been, but is then free to start working for a new employer straight away since they are no longer employed by the original company at all — garden leave keeps the employment relationship (and its restrictions) alive for the full notice period, which employers often prefer specifically because it delays a departing employee's ability to join a competitor or contact clients on behalf of a new employer. Garden leave clauses are more common in senior, sales, and client-relationship-focused roles precisely because the ability to delay a competitor hire, or limit information leakage during a sensitive period, is often valuable to employers in those specific roles. Whether garden leave pay is taxed any differently from normal notice period pay depends on the specific circumstances, but since the employee remains formally employed and paid under their normal contract during garden leave, it is generally taxed exactly like ordinary salary through PAYE, not as a termination payment. Use the Take-Home Pay calculator to check your expected net pay during a period of garden leave.