Garden leave: the pitfalls, the dos and the donts

Employers may find themselves in a financially onerous position if correct procedures aren't followed when placing staff on "garden leave" – it's not always as straight forward as it seems. It's best to know the do's and don'ts in this situation before going down the "garden leave" path.

It is increasingly common practice for employers to direct an employee to take so called "garden leave" after an employee has given notice of termination of employment. Whilst on garden leave, the employee is required not to attend the workplace or perform duties but remains on full remuneration. This is useful to the employer where the employee has resigned to take up employment with a competitor.