Garden leave is commonly used for senior staff or when a member of staff has handed in their notice and you don’t want any employee enticing clients to follow them or taking sensitive business information. So instead you simply pay them for the duration of the notice period to stay away from the office.
To impose garden leave however, you need to make sure that it is in a worker’s employment contract in the first place. Provided that you have got the relevant clause in their contract, the right time to impose garden leave is when notice is given. But don’t forget that even though they are on garden leave, they still remain employed by you – so, for example, if an employee passes on confidential information to their next employer whilst on garden leave, this could constitute gross misconduct and you may be able to dismiss them and avoid paying notice money.
For further information on employment tribunal claims, contact Alan Jenner on Alan.Jenner@bishopslaw.com or 01722 422300
