Resigned and sidelined - Am I on 'garden leave' and what should I do?

HankSchrader

Hi all, seeking some advice on a tricky situation following my resignation.

I recently resigned from my role as I'm moving to a competitor. My contract required me to give 2 weeks' notice but I said I would work 4 weeks to help out.

The day after I handed in my notice, I was locked out of some key systems. I had completed a thorough handover document prior to this.

Since then, my boss has stopped communicating with me directly. Instead, he is using other team members to relay questions or tasks to me, which makes things very inefficient and difficult.

Essentially, I feel I can no longer fully perform my job duties because I don't have the necessary system access or direct communication channels. It feels very much like I've been sidelined.

My confusion is whether this is effectively 'garden leave', even though I haven't been explicitly told to stay home. My contract doesn't clearly define garden leave procedures.

My main question is: What is the typical protocol here? Should I continue going into the office every day for the next few weeks, even if I can't effectively work and am mostly sitting around? Or can I state that I cannot fulfil my duties due to the lack of access and communication, and therefore stay away from the office?

Has anyone experienced something similar, and what did you do? Any advice on how to approach this would be appreciated!

Jim2007

Don't it three or four times over the past decades, for 6 months on each occasion! It is normal if you are at a senior, as you say - gardening leave.

You have an employment contract to honour, so you do as asked by your employer. If they decide to restrict your access etc… then that is on them, likewise if they want you in the office then that is where you need to be.

In my experience gardening leave is a formal process with a signed protocol setting out exactly what is expected of you, things like:

• Be available for taking and answering questions
• Come into the office one morning a week
• Don't take holidays
• Your salary payments during the period
• Your benefits entitlement
• and so on.

So unless your employer tells you you are on gardening leave and you agree terms, then no you are not on gardening leave. So just do as you are requested.

Dial Hard

I've seen this happen before. They don't want you doing any work but they won't give you the "satisfaction" of actually putting you on gardening leave. It's an incredibly petty way to basically punish someone for going to a competitor. Can you go to HR or above your boss's head for clarification on whether they're going to make you do this for the two weeks' notice that was in your contract, or the four weeks that you offered? Because if it's the latter, I'd be rescinding that offer.

thefa

Probably best to continue showing up and take it on the chin. At the end of the day, you’re still getting paid for the next few weeks and have a preferred job lined up.

Buffman

If they've locked you out of key systems then they don't want or expect you to be working as normal.

Very unprofessional behaviour if they are not being upfront with you about the situation.

Personally I'd continue to attend as normal unless told otherwise, don't worry about 'inefficiency' etc as that's not your problem.

TheBlock

Headphones and a Book…..

mrcheez

Definitely don't do the 4 weeks 😀

csirl

Whats the point in kicking up a fuss? Its only 4 weeks. You get paid and have very little to do! Smile and be pleasent to everyone

Better to leave a job on good terms rather than getting a reputation for being "difficult". Ireland's a small place - you'll never know, someone in your current HR may be working for some other company you might like to join in future years.

AvalonEnaid

Should I continue going into the office every day for the next few weeks, even if I can't effectively work and am mostly sitting around?

Sounds like you're living the dream. You're effectively being paid 4 weeks salary to do nothing.

To cover yourself should problems like not being paid for 4 weeks of work arise. You need to get things in writing. Make a note of the restricted access and difficulty with communication with a trusted and sympathetic manager, but don't make a big fuss about it to actually trigger action on their part.

But if you decide to handle it your own way, please heed these words: Do. Not. Trust. HR.

ELM327

4 weeks of light work to clear the head, paid as normal, time to say your goodbyes and enjoy some headspace before starting the new job. I wouldn't be complaining. I did it before, made redundant just as I was leaving anyway, delayed accepting the new job and took the consultancy time and notice period as unofficial leave. Remember it's a job that you won't be doing in 4 weeks + 1 day and other than leaving on good terms you owe them nothing.

LambshankRedemption

I recently resigned from my role as I'm moving to a competitor. My contract required me to give 2 weeks' notice but I said I would work 4 weeks to help out.

OK, don't ever do that again. If your contract requires X amount of notice, give that notice. Don't offer to work extra "to help them out". You cause problems for yourself and for the employer.

In a few places I worked, I was told to take my remaining holidays as my notice period.

There is a funny duality about it, because one day your boss is giving you a hard time for being 10 minutes late "because the work is so important", to the day or week you hand in your notice and they want you out of the door ASAP and you are wondering "But, who will do the super important work I was doing?"

But if you decide to handle it your own way, please heed these words: Do. Not. Trust. HR.

100 times this. HR is there to protect the interests of the company, not to protect employees.

Larbre34

People are far too considerate of their employers. Believe me, they are far less bothered, corporately, by your leaving than you are.

However, there is no gardening leave situation here unless it has been explicitly agreed. You are in your notice period. You shouldn't have offered 4 weeks rather than the contracted 2, and they shouldn't have accepted that.

So, it is evident that they do not actually want you doing anything during this period, which is now much longer than it needed to be. And so, keep turning up every day, whether thats in an office, or logging on at home at 9am.

And do nothing. Or maybe upskill yourself by doing some CPD or reading up on industry developments.

And just think, for the latter two weeks, you could have been on a beach, if you hadn't been silly.

JVince

exactly as Jim says, be available to assist where needed. Ensure your handover is understood.

Naturally your direct manager will be peeved as he's losing a good member of the team. His/her issue is that they are taking it personally where in fact its just part of life.

That you gave 4 weeks notice would be seen as a positive by both current employer and future employer as it shows a level of responsibility and shows that there are no untoward issues in your moving. The more senior people in the company will understand better as the chances are they've done the same themselves. (a quick check on LinkedIn will show you that)

10-10-20

Sounds typical to me for any company which has a security policy to protect its assets. The manager thing is odd though, sounds to me like he has taken it personally. Just make yourself available to work/online etc, but I'd predict that after a few weeks you'll be scot-free.

Dinkie

I had this happen me. I just rolled with it. I did what I could, and took it easy the rest of the time. HR had told people they weren't allowed communicate with me directly as I was going to a competitor.