Garden leave — a period during your notice where you remain employed and paid but are kept away from the workplace — is one of the most misunderstood provisions in UK employment contracts. Workers do not always know what they have agreed to, and employers are sometimes uncertain what they can enforce.
Paste any UK contract clause and get a structured risk report — plain English, red flags, enforceability insight, and a suggested counter-proposal.
What garden leave is
Without an express garden leave clause, an employer cannot lawfully place you on garden leave. The general position in UK employment law is that employees have a right to work — particularly those whose role requires maintaining skills, reputation, or client relationships. Imposing garden leave without a contractual right to do so can constitute a breach of contract.
What you can and cannot do on garden leave
During garden leave you remain an employee. Your duties of good faith and fidelity continue. You cannot work for a competitor, solicit your employer's clients or staff, or use confidential information for your benefit or theirs. Your restrictive covenants remain in force. You can use the time to prepare for your next role in ways that do not breach those obligations — researching the market, taking training, managing personal affairs — but you cannot take employment with a competitor without breaching your contract.
How garden leave interacts with non-competes
This is where the stakes are highest. Courts take garden leave into account when assessing whether a subsequent non-compete is reasonable. A twelve-month non-compete following six months of garden leave means you are effectively out of the market for eighteen months. In some cases, courts will reduce the duration of an enforceable non-compete to reflect the garden leave period already served — treating it as effectively serving part of the restriction period.
Practical considerations
If you are placed on garden leave and wish to start a new role before it ends, your options are limited. You can ask your employer to waive or shorten it — they may agree if keeping you on payroll serves no practical purpose. Starting a new role while on garden leave without your current employer's consent is a breach of contract and exposes you to a claim for damages and potentially an injunction.