The employee remains employed and compensated but is excluded from the workplace, clients, and information. The arrangement protects against immediate competition while the employee's knowledge becomes stale.
It originated in English practice.
Alternative Names:
Gardening Leave|Paid Notice Period
Why it Matters?
Continued compensation addresses the consideration and hardship objections that defeat unpaid non-competes, which makes garden leave more enforceable in restrictive jurisdictions. Several states considering non-compete restrictions have carved out paid notice arrangements. The cost is real and the period is typically shorter than a non-compete would run, which is the tradeoff for enforceability.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Why is garden leave more enforceable?
What is the tradeoff?
