What to do about 'Gardening Leave'

opethdisciple · 11 May 2019 at 22:13

So at one point in my career a good 3+ years ago I was put on gardening leave for swearing in the office and had my contract terminated.

I was paid for the month and it took me 6 weeks to find a new job.

I have had a new offer made and am being asked to declare any periods of unemployment longer than 1 month and to give a reason.

Not sure what to do.

Declare it but say I went on holiday, not declare it at all.

The fact I was paid for the month makes me think technically I was still employed so don't need to declare anything.

opethdisciple · 12 May 2019 at 11:16

Azza said:
I feel this needs more detail! What sort of swearing are we talking about?

Just used the f word a few times. The real reason why I was asked to leave was the new management that came in where complete *****.

They wanted everyone to put a smile on their faces or your out. (literally)

opethdisciple · 12 May 2019 at 14:43

But the bottom line is I'm not gonna declare this in my forms.

opethdisciple · 12 May 2019 at 20:26

dowie said:
If you’re concerned at all then just e-mail HR at your old firm and confirm with them that your dates of employment are recorded as being from X to Y.

I mean the background check will likely involve them being contacted and asked to confirm your job title and dates of employment.

But the gardening leave period is counted as 'employment'? I guess it's impossible to say with out actually contacting my former employers to find out what dates they have recorded I worked there.

I could say that between job a and job b I took 1 month off to travel.

It all depends on whether gardening leave is considered employment. Or wether those employees even considered gardening leave as still being contracted to the company.

opethdisciple · 12 May 2019 at 21:31

So what should I do with this form asking me to declare any periods of unemployment longer than 4 weeks?

Should I say I quit that job and went travelling for a month between job a and job b.

Or just say nothing.

opethdisciple · 12 May 2019 at 22:29

Semple said:
Not only that but if you'd been made redundant it might take longer than a month to find a new job. I guess that's a perfectly valid reason anyway, but still seems strange to ask.

@OP what does your termination letter say? That'll be your official date.

I tore it on the day I got it. I didn't want anyone finding out.

This was two and a half years ago now.

opethdisciple · 12 May 2019 at 22:30

_tucker_ said:
Not going to lie I’ve never heard of the term gardening leave so curiosity got the better of me

It's a stupid term

opethdisciple · 12 May 2019 at 22:34

Alternatively I just say there was a period of x weeks between job a and job b where I had quit and was looking for a new job.

Are they really going to go back and ask job a what where the circumstances?

---

This is what I think I am going to go with.

As for how they would check circumstances... surely they would only contact the reference I give anyway rather than randomly call up old company and ask...

opethdisciple · 13 May 2019 at 00:02

dowie said:
It should be counted, I’m just saying if you were concerned about it then you could just check with HR the exact dates of employment they have for you before you send off the form.

But basically if they’ve sent you home and told you not to come back but have paid you for the month then your employment ends at the end of that month long period, you’re unable to take up other employment at say a rival or client etc... (which is what gardening leave is often used for)

Yes. That was exactly the situation.

So based on the answer I get back from HR (if any) I either leave this section blank or I say that I quit as the job wasn't going in the direction I was looking.

How would they know otherwise, other than from my reference?

opethdisciple · 13 May 2019 at 09:55

dowie said:
Why a 6 week gap? I thought you had a 2 week gap? Or were you sent home and had a months notice and then had 6 weeks on top of that so more like 10 weeks from being sent home to starting a new job?

As for how they’d find out about you being dismissed, well the length of the gap is irrelevant to that, they might find out if they ask your former employer or indeed if your former employer offers up the information.

Its 6 weeks as although the gardening leave spanned a month, it took me an additional 2 weeks to find a new job.

opethdisciple · 13 May 2019 at 15:31

So I shouldn't list anything on the form where they ask me to tell them why I have gaps of 1 month or more?

6 weeks was the time between when I was placed on gardening leave to finding a new job.

opethdisciple · 15 May 2019 at 12:36

So in the end I believe this is now a non issue. I emailed old firm and they confirmed my dates and officially I was only unemployed for 3 weeks. I was pottering around in the garden.

opethdisciple · 21 May 2019 at 10:56

mrbell1984 said:
I think there is more to this story than the op is letting on. You wouldn't get sacked for swearing straight away, it would be a process.

No there was no process.

I wrote out a whole piece but I don't want to put it on the internet.

Suffice to say the CTO was a complete melon and a lot of people left that company during and after his stay.

opethdisciple · 21 May 2019 at 23:11

mrbell1984 said:
Unless you swore and someone external heard it for example over the phone you could have had a tribunal, there has to be a process and they clearly didn't follow it!

PS what did you do about this mentioned in your main post?

In the end I found out my start and leave dates (gardening leave was counted as employment) so in the end non issue.