The key insight:
Garden leave is paid time, but it is not free time. Before you sign, know how long it can last and what it stops you doing.
Garden leave is when your employer keeps you employed and paid through your notice period but tells you not to come to work, or not to do your normal job. You are still an employee. You keep your salary and benefits, and you are still bound by your contract. What you cannot usually do is start your next role until the notice period ends.
The name is British, from the idea that you spend the time in your garden. It is common in senior roles in the UK and increasingly common in Gulf contracts, especially in banking, investment, consulting and any business where a leaver could take clients, people or plans with them. This guide covers how it works in the UK, how it works in the UAE where the law does not name it, a short note on Saudi Arabia, and what to negotiate whether you are joining or leaving.
This is general information, not legal advice. Garden leave depends on the exact words of your contract, and a senior contract should be checked by an employment lawyer in the right country before you sign it or resign.
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How garden leave works in the UK
UK government guidance is short and clear. Your employer may ask you not to come into work, or to work at home or another location, during your notice period. This is called garden leave, and you get the same pay and contractual benefits.
A few practical points follow from that.
It sits inside your notice period. Garden leave is not extra time. It is your notice period, spent away from work. So its length is limited by your notice. The law sets a floor: under section 86 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, an employee with one month or more of service must give at least one week's notice, and an employer must give at least one week for each full year of service, up to twelve weeks. Senior contracts almost always set much longer periods, commonly three, six or even twelve months, and that is where garden leave becomes significant.
It usually comes from a contract clause. Most senior UK contracts include an express garden leave clause. Without one, an employer's right to keep you away from work is less certain, particularly in roles where you need to keep working to keep your skills current. That is a point to raise with a lawyer, not something to assume either way.
You are still employed. Your duties to your employer continue, including confidentiality and, usually, a duty not to work for anyone else. Your benefits continue too, such as pension contributions, health cover and a car allowance, and as you remain an employee your holiday continues to build up. Your employer can usually ask you to stay available for questions and handover.
It is different from pay in lieu of notice. With pay in lieu, the employment ends straight away and you receive the notice pay. Whether your employer can choose that route depends on your contract, so check for a pay in lieu clause. With garden leave, the employment carries on to the end of the notice period. That difference matters for your start date, your bonus and your benefits.
Garden leave, pay in lieu and non-competes compared
These three terms are often confused, and they work very differently.
| Term | Are you still employed? | Are you paid? | Can you start a new job? | When it applies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden leave | Yes | Yes, full pay and contractual benefits | Not usually, until notice ends | During the notice period |
| Pay in lieu of notice | No, employment ends at once | A lump sum for the notice period | Yes, subject to any covenants | Instead of the notice period |
| Non-compete (restrictive covenant) | No | Not unless the contract says so | Not with a competitor, for the stated period | After employment ends |
The link between the first and the last row is where senior people get caught. The same government guide explains that contracts may include restrictive covenants that stop you working for a competitor or contacting clients for a set period after you leave, and that your former employer could take you to court if you breach them. If you have six months of garden leave followed by a twelve-month non-compete, you could be out of your market for eighteen months. Many well drafted contracts say that time on garden leave reduces the non-compete. If yours does not, that is the first thing to negotiate.
How garden leave works in the UAE
UAE labour law does not use the term garden leave. The private sector is governed by Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations, and the rules that matter are the notice rules in Article 43.
The government's guidance on terminating employment contracts sets them out. The notice period must be at least 30 days and no more than 90. The contract continues during the notice period and ends only when it expires. You are entitled to your full wage for the notice period, based on your most recent salary. A party that does not serve the notice must pay the other a notice period allowance.
Nothing in those rules stops an employer from paying you in full and asking you to stay away. So in practice, UAE garden leave is a contract term that sits inside the 30 to 90 day notice period. Because the notice period is capped at 90 days, the long garden leave periods you see in some UK contracts do not carry across in the same way. If a UAE contract tries to keep you on garden leave for longer, ask a UAE lawyer how it can be enforced.
Some further points to check:
- The job search day. The law gives one unpaid day off each week during notice to look for work, but only where the employer has ended the contract. If you resigned, it is not automatic.
- Your end of service gratuity. Because the contract continues during notice, your employment generally runs to the end of the notice period, and your gratuity is calculated at that point. Check how the employer is counting it.
- Your visa. Your residence visa is normally linked to your employer and stays in place while you are employed. Agree the timing of its cancellation and any new sponsorship with both employers.
- Non-competes. Article 10 of the decree-law allows a non-compete after the contract ends, for no more than two years, and only within the limits it sets on time, place and type of work. Read it alongside any garden leave clause.
The wider rules on notice, resignation during probation and pay in lieu are in our guide to how notice periods and resignation work under UAE law. This article stays with garden leave itself.
A short note on Saudi Arabia
Saudi labour law does not describe garden leave in these terms either. Senior contracts in the Kingdom often include it, set on top of the statutory notice rules, and a non-compete must meet the written and specific tests in the law. The statutory notice periods were changed in the 2025 amendments, so check the current text. Our guide to Saudi labour law for senior hires sets out notice, the end-of-service award and non-competes against the ministry's text.
Why employers use garden leave, and what it costs you
From the search side of the market, the reasons are simple. A senior leaver knows the strategy, the pipeline and the people. Garden leave keeps that knowledge away from a competitor while it goes stale, and gives the business time to tell clients and move accounts to someone else.
For you, the cost is time. A new employer who wants you in three months may have to wait six. Some will wait. Some will not, and some will ask you to negotiate an early release. In our experience at JOH Partners, a long garden leave also has knock-on costs: bonuses that are not paid because you are not in the business on the payment date, and unvested awards that lapse because the leaving date moves. When a new employer agrees to compensate for awards you forfeit, that is a buy-out, and JOH Partners explains how buy-out awards and sign-on bonuses differ in Gulf hires.
On the employer's side, garden leave is one of the costs a board often leaves out of its planning. JOH Partners sets out what a senior departure in the Gulf really costs, and garden leave, together with non-competes, is part of that bill. Knowing it costs them too gives you room to negotiate.
What to negotiate if you are joining
The best time to shape garden leave is when you sign, not when you leave. Before you accept a senior offer, look at these terms:
- The maximum length. Ask for a cap, ideally shorter than the full notice period.
- The non-compete offset. Ask for every day of garden leave to reduce the non-compete by a day.
- Bonus and incentives. Ask whether a bonus earned in the year is paid if you are on garden leave on the payment date, and whether awards keep vesting while you are still employed.
- Benefits. Confirm that health cover, housing, school fees and car allowances continue in full.
- Early release. Ask for wording that lets you start a new role early if your employer agrees, and that says agreement will not be held back without good reason.
Our guide to negotiating a senior job offer covers how to raise these points without damaging the offer. Our Offer and negotiation tool compares an offer term by term, including notice and restrictive covenants, and helps you prepare the conversation.
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Check my offer →What to negotiate if you are leaving
If you are already on garden leave, or about to be, the contract is fixed but the exit is not. Senior leavers often agree:
- A shorter garden leave, or an early release date, in return for a full handover.
- An agreed announcement, so clients and colleagues hear the same story.
- A reference, agreed in writing, so your next employer is not left guessing.
- Treatment of incentives, especially where a payment date falls during notice.
Your new employer matters here too. A clear, agreed start date protects the offer. Tell them early how long your garden leave could be, and keep them updated.
Using the time well
You are being paid, but you cannot start the new job yet. Most senior people use it to prepare for the next role. Update how you present yourself: our new guide to writing an executive bio covers the short biography a new employer will ask for in your first week. Plan your first months. And get an honest view of how you lead before you start somewhere new: you can take the free Leadership Psychometric, a 50-question leadership profile built by executive recruiters that scores Vision Thinking, Execution Drive, Influencing Power, People Intelligence and Composure.
Do not contact clients or recruit former colleagues during garden leave unless your contract clearly allows it. You are still employed, and that is the easiest way to turn a quiet exit into a dispute.
For more on contracts, pay and the senior market in the region, see the full GCC Market Intelligence collection.
Key takeaways
- Garden leave means you stay employed and paid during your notice period but are told not to work. You usually cannot start a new job until it ends.
- In the UK, government guidance says you keep the same pay and contractual benefits. It normally comes from a contract clause and is limited by your notice period.
- In the UAE, the law does not name garden leave. It sits inside the 30 to 90 day notice period under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, with your full wage owed.
- Saudi labour law does not describe it in these terms either. Senior contracts add it on top of the statutory rules.
- Garden leave and a non-compete together can keep you out of the market for a long time. Negotiate a cap and an offset before you sign.
- This is general information, not legal advice. Have a senior contract checked by an employment lawyer in the right country.
Frequently asked questions
- What does garden leave mean?
- Garden leave means your employer keeps you employed and paid during your notice period but tells you not to come to work, or limits what work you do. You are still an employee, so you keep your pay and contractual benefits, and you are still bound by your contract, including confidentiality. In most cases you cannot start a new job until the notice period ends.
- Do you get paid on garden leave?
- Yes. In the UK, government guidance says you get the same pay and contractual benefits during garden leave. In the UAE, the labour law says the contract continues during the notice period and you are entitled to your full wage based on your most recent salary. Whether a discretionary bonus or an unvested incentive is paid depends on the scheme rules, so check those separately.
- Can I work for someone else while on garden leave?
- Usually not. You are still employed, so your contract continues to apply, and most senior contracts forbid working for anyone else during notice. Starting with a new employer early normally needs your current employer's written agreement to release you. Ask for that release rather than assuming it.
- Is garden leave legal in the UAE?
- The UAE labour law does not use the term garden leave, but it does not stop an employer from paying you in full while asking you to stay away during your notice period. Under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, the notice period runs from 30 to 90 days, the contract continues during it and you are owed your full wage. In practice, UAE garden leave sits inside that notice period. Check your contract with a UAE employment lawyer.
- Does garden leave count towards a non-compete?
- It depends on the contract. Garden leave and a non-compete are separate terms: garden leave applies while you are still employed, and a non-compete applies after the contract ends. Many senior contracts say that time on garden leave reduces the length of the non-compete. If yours does not, ask for that offset before you sign, because together they can keep you out of the market for much longer than either one alone.
- Can my employer put me on garden leave without a clause in my contract?
- In the UK, most employers rely on an express garden leave clause, and without one their right to keep you away from work is less certain. In the UAE the law is silent, so the contract and any agreement at exit matter most. In either place this is a question for an employment lawyer who has read your contract, not a general rule.
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