gardening leave

British

noun

informal a period during which an employee who is about to leave a company continues to receive a salary but does not work

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He is currently working out a period of gardening leave after agreeing his terms of departure from the Milton Keynes team and has been linked to Aston Martin and Haas among others.

From Barron's • Oct. 16, 2025

The 53-year-old officially joined the club on 1 July after spending five months on gardening leave at Newcastle.

From BBC • Dec. 8, 2024

Ratcliffe's Ineos group also presently has limited football experience at United, given their chief executive Omar Berrada and intended football director Dan Ashworth are yet to complete respective periods of gardening leave.

From BBC • May 26, 2024

Acconcia is on gardening leave, after leaving his role as a senior managing director at Blackstone in November, the sources said.

From Reuters • Jan. 13, 2022

Orcel resigned from UBS and was put on six-month gardening leave after signing a job offer letter from Santander.

From Reuters • Dec. 10, 2021

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023