“Garden leave” or “gardening leave” is the practice of requiring an employee not to attend the employer’s premises for work during his or her contractual notice period. Instead, the employee is paid his or her full contractual salary to stay at home. The practice is often used where a senior or key employee resigns in order to join a competitor.
Many cases highlight how professionalism is lacking in UK football when it comes to employment contracts, even in the ultra rich Premier League.