Garden leave explained

Garden leave, also called gardening leave, is when your employer tells you not to work some or all of your notice period. You keep your job, your pay and your contractual benefits until the notice ends. According to gov.uk, your employer may ask you not to come in, or to work at home or at another location, and either way you get the same pay and contractual benefits.

What it looks like in practice

Your employer decides you should not do your normal job during notice, and tells you. Some employers ask you to stay away from the workplace altogether. Others ask you to work from home or from another location. You are an employee until the last day of notice either way.

Acas says employers often use garden leave to keep sensitive or confidential information away from someone who is about to join a new employer. The contract decides whether you can be required to go on garden leave, so check the wording of yours.

Pay and benefits

Acas says you must be paid as usual during garden leave, including for any work benefits in your contract. If your hours and pay vary week to week, ask how your employer will work out what you are paid, since Acas tells employers to take legal advice on the correct amount for variable pay.

Garden leave keeps you on the payroll. gov.uk describes garden leave in its tax guidance as pay while you stay on the payroll but do not work. Use the take-home pay calculator if you want to see what your usual monthly pay looks like after tax.

Garden leave and pay in lieu

The two are often confused. With garden leave your employment continues until the notice ends. With pay in lieu of notice, employment ends at once, and Acas says other contractual benefits are unlikely to be owed afterwards. That difference can matter if you have a benefit that runs for the whole notice period, or if you have a start date elsewhere and want to know how soon you are free.

What you can and cannot do

You remain employed, so your contract still applies. Anything beyond that depends on your contract, which may include confidentiality duties, rules about other work, or an obligation to be available if called on. Read these clauses before accepting a new job with a start date that falls inside your notice period.

If the position is unclear, ask your union, Acas or an adviser before you take other work.

Can your employer insist?

Acas says whether you can be required to go on garden leave depends on your employment contract. Look for a clause that lets your employer do it, and ask HR to point to it if you are told to stay away. A union rep or Acas can help if you think the instruction is not allowed.

Holiday during garden leave

Ask in writing how any untaken leave will be handled, because neither gov.uk nor Acas sets out rules for it on their garden leave pages. The holiday entitlement guide explains how accrual works in general.

Who it applies to

Garden leave only makes sense if you are an employee with a notice period. Acas says agency workers, casual workers and people on zero-hours contracts are unlikely to be employees. If you are unsure of your status, our employment status guide explains the tests.

Asking to leave early

Garden leave can feel like dead time if you have a new job lined up. You can ask your employer to let you leave before your notice ends. Acas says to get agreement in writing, because without it you could be in breach of contract, and that an employer who agrees only has to pay for the time you worked.

Questions to ask in writing

• The start and end dates of the garden leave
• Whether your employer can call you back to work during it
• Which benefits continue
• What duties still bind you, such as confidentiality
• Whether you may start other work, and from when

Keep the reply. For the legal minimum notice and how contracts vary, read the notice periods guide. If you are resigning, the guide to resigning properly covers the letter.