Garden Leave

“Garden Leave(花园休假)”是中国人很不熟悉的。事实上，这是一个法律术语，和禁止职业经理人跳槽到同类企业的“同业禁止”是相关概念。该概念的核心含义是：为了避免经理人辞职后立即加盟竞争企业，雇员应根据合同规定的时间限制，提前通知雇主。此后，尽管雇员已不必为雇主工作，但雇主仍然支付雇员工薪，条件是雇员只能留在家里“整理花园”，规定时限到期后方可加盟竞争企业。

“Garden leave” is the term given to a situation whereby an employee is required to serve out a period of notice at home (or “in the garden”). During this period the employee continues to receive all salary and benefits but is prohibited from commencing employment with new employers until the gardening leave period has expired. It is a practice which employers often adopt with employees who have a certain status whereby they have access to confidential information or customers and where they are leaving to join a competitor. During the gardening leave period the employee’s access to such information or customers is either restricted or denied.