Jen David 
Avoid a CV gap by addressing your garden leave
Many companies have a garden leave policy to protect their assets, enable a smooth transition, and prevent conflicts of interest when a senior executive leaves the business. In this article, we're exploring what garden leave actually is and how you can incorporate it into your CV without leaving a gap.
What is garden leave?
Garden leave, or gardening leave, is typically initiated by an employer when a senior employee resigns, is terminated, or is made redundant. During this notice period, the executive remains employed – receiving regular pay and benefits – but is instructed not to work, either onsite or elsewhere.
The idea is to restrict the employee's access to the organisation's sensitive information, clients, and other employees for a set time. However, as the person on garden leave is still technically employed, they're unable to start a new job right away.
Is garden leave a constructive dismissal?
No. Garden leave is not a form of constructive dismissal – it doesn't result from an employee being compelled to resign due to an employer's serious breach of contract. Nor is it the same as suspension or disciplinary action, as there's usually no suggestion of wrongdoing by the employee. Garden leave is simply a way for the company to protect its interests during an employee's transition to a new role.
Can you request garden leave?
Yes, you can request to be placed on garden leave. However, if it wasn't originally included in your employment contract, your employer can refuse the request. Likewise, if a garden leave clause is specified in your contract, you may be required to comply with the terms that the company has set around this leave.
Garden leave: the CV dilemma
Since you're typically not working during garden leave, it can be challenging to reflect this period on your CV.
For example, if you resign at the end of May and have a 6-month garden leave period until November, you'll be paid until the end of November, with your employment terminated at that time. How should you write your end date at your previous company on your CV? Should it be November, when your pay and obligations ended, even though you didn't work from June to November? Or should it be May, when you worked your final day?
How to include garden leave on your CV
At TopCV, we recommend using the end date of your garden leave for your CV, rather than the last day that you physically worked in the office. Even if you were at home for the past several months, you were contractually bound to your employer and still on their payroll.
Simply put, treat your garden leave period on your CV as you would any employment period.
There's no reason to document an employment gap on your CV – something that often raises a red flag with recruiters and employers – in order to account for your garden leave. The same dates can also be used if you're required to complete a job application for a prospective employer or during the candidate vetting process.
Expert tip: If you're not comfortable framing months when you weren't working as a period of employment, you may choose to use only the year, rather than the month and year, for your CV's employment dates. If the topic is brought up during a job interview, you will need to address the matter honestly with your interviewer. However, there's no reason to draw attention to your garden leave if your prospective employer isn't questioning your time between jobs.
Time to head back to work?
If you're looking for something productive to do during your garden leave, why not get your CV in shape? By adding your latest achievements and experiences while they're fresh in your mind, you'll have a strong CV ready to go when the time comes to start applying for your next role.
When you've added your latest role to your CV and decided how to cover the period of garden leave, why not send it to our CV experts for a free review so you're ready to step into a new role as soon as your garden leave ends.
This article was originally written by Amanda Augustine and published on Campaign. It has been updated by Jen David.