How do I write a garden leave letter?
You have requested to leave the Company on [insert date] and as you have provided [insert number] [weeks’/months’] notice, in line with your contractual obligations, I can confirm that your termination date, being the last day in which you are expected to work, is [insert date].
How do you ask for gardening leave?
Garden leave can also be instigated at the employee’s request (if it suits you too) or as part of negotiated terms over departure. You must make sure either that the employee’s contract of employment gives you a specific and enforceable right to use garden leave or the employee agrees in advance, preferably in writing.
Can I insist on gardening leave?
Yes, garden leave can be requested by an employee as part of coming to an agreement on terms over leaving a position. Contracts of employment must give the right to use garden leave.
What is a garden leave agreement?
Gardening leave is a transition period for employees who give or are given notice of termination, keeping them on the payroll but away from the workplace. A protectionist measure, the garden leave prevents the employee from sabotaging the work environment and from taking proprietary information to a competitor.
What is garden leave pay?
The term “garden leave” refers to a company’s practice of paying an employee who is leaving to stay away from work and delay seeking employment elsewhere for a period of time. They’re also usually asked not to divulge sensitive information to competitors.
Can you put an employee on garden leave?
An employee can only be put on garden leave if there are appropriately worded clauses in their contract entitling the employer to exercise this right. Regardless of whether the employee resigns, or the employer gives notice, garden leave clauses should operate.
What are the rules of garden leave?
Strictly speaking, a person can only be placed on garden leave once he has resigned with notice or been dismissed with notice. If an employee is required is stay away from work at any other time during his employment then it will usually be a suspension of some sort unless there is genuinely no work for him to do.
Is garden leave full pay?
Gardening leave is essentially the same as suspending an employee on full pay. The continuation of the contract for the period of gardening leave means the employee will not only be entitled to full pay, but all other contractual benefits.
What are my rights on gardening leave?
Garden leave clauses are typically found in a senior employees or directors employment contract. The clause entitles the employer, after notice has been given by either party, to require: The employee to stay at home; and. Not work or contact colleagues, clients and suppliers.
What happens if you breach garden leave?
If you place an employee on garden leave without securing agreement in advance, you could be in breach of contract. The knock-on effect of this is that they may treat themselves as no longer bound by the terms of the contract and take up a new job before the garden leave period expires.
Can you be fired while on garden leave?
The employee has a right to work. In the absence of the garden leave clause, an employer cannot place an employee on garden leave as a way of termination of employment. This entitles the employee to resign and claim constructive dismissal on account of the employer’s breach of contract.
When do you use the garden leave clause?
Garden Leave Clauses. Garden leave is used where contractual notice has been given (by the Employer or the Employee) and the Employer asks the Employee not to come into work, or to work at home or another location for the length of the notice period. Garden leave may be used, for instance, when an Employee has a new job with a competitor and…
When to put an employee on garden leave?
The Employee is merely directed to go on gardening leave during the notice period. The clause is drafted so that it is at the Employer’s discretion whether to trigger the garden leave. You are not required to put the employee on garden leave. An employer has the widest discretion to put the employee on garden leave.
Is the contract still in force during garden leave?
The contract of employment is still in force during garden leave. This means that the court is not just limited to enforcing the garden leave clause, it can also enforce express contractual provisions or implied duties such as the duty of good faith, trust and confidence and fidelity that every employee has to their employer.
What happens if I refuse to take garden leave?
If an employee is not happy about being placed on garden leave and there is no express contractual basis for this, the employee may try to claim that this is a breach of contract. Implied into every employment contract is the right to work under that contract and garden leave does not allow the employee to do that, in breach of the contract.