Garden leave, pleasures and pains
Garden Leave
‘It is with great sadness that Derek has decided to leave us to pursue other ventures. Derek has been a huge contributor to the success of the department, and we will miss his wit and wisdom. Derek will be on garden leave with immediate effect, spending valuable time with his family. We wish him every luck in the future’
At least Derek got a note, some people just disappear… the PLC secret service just swoop in one day and float you away. The office is quickly rearranged, and all traces that you were once there removed overnight.
So what are you supposed to do, because although you are not physically constrained, there isn’t a garden leave cell installed next to the Personnel department (probably wouldn’t be next to HR, that’s too close, it’s too obvious, it would be found, probably would be in the call centre or in a stock room in a nearby retail unit). Anyway, there isn’t a cell you are kept in, you are released back into the world, on full pay (up to a tbc agreed date) but you aren’t completely free. You can be called back to work at any time. You definitely can’t start another job, and you really shouldn’t be talking to competitors. So all you can really be doing is… gardening. If you have one.
Accordingly to our friend Wikipedia the term originated in the British Civil Service where employees had the right to request special leave for exceptional purposes. "Gardening leave" became a euphemism for "suspended" as an employee who was pending an investigation into their conduct would often request to be out of the office on special leave instead. The term came to widespread public attention in 1986 when it was used in the BBC sitcom Yes, Prime Minister episode ‘One Of Us’.
Garden Leave Definition
Garden leave means an employee leaving a job after having resigned or otherwise had their employment terminated by redundancy and is instructed to stay away from work during the notice period, while still remaining on the payroll. This is used when an employees position is no longer needed during the notice period. To maintain the employee's non-compete clause, this practice is often used to prevent an employee from taking with them up-to-date (and perhaps sensitive) information when they leave their current employer, especially when they are very likely leaving to join a competitor. The term is in common use in banking and other financial employment in Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Sometimes, the practice is used to avoid sabotage by an uninterested or disgruntled employee.
More top ‘garden leave’ facts
There is also history that during World War 1, soldiers suffering from shell shock (PTSD) would be sent home on medical leave. As part of their rehabilitation, their therapy would include engaging in simple but productive tasks such as growing vegetables and other stress free gardening activities. They would still be on the military payroll but played no active part in the war. So the meaning of gardening leave being ‘that someone is paid not to participate in the work they were originally paid to do’.
The term is now firmly associated (in UK, Australia and New Zealand) with being made redundant, and the need to get you out of the office as quickly as possible to avoid awkwardness, bad vibes, and those staying can just move on quickly without guilt. And so you can’t download loads of data and sell it online or bad vibey things like that.
Right so now we know what garden leave is.
You get paid for doing nothing… happy days?
Is garden leave a bad thing? Well, in theory, on paper and conceptually, it sounds great. Isn’t that what the ultimate dream is. All those things you don’t get round to doing because work gets in the way, now is the time, surely. In a recent study, only 30% people said they ‘enjoyed’ their garden leave. Sad face.
So why is it so hard to enjoy getting paid to do nothing?
Well it’s certainly a time of shock. Even for those who have been dreaming of escape, dreaming of another world, it’s still a shock. You are pulled from your reality of presentations, full inboxes, back to back meetings, pop up messengers to… nothing. No calls, no urgent requests, no-one needing you… for anything.
It can start to feel a bit numbing, a bit lonely and a bit confusing.
Suddenly you are powering through the change curve at a rapid rate, still trying to process the change being put upon you. Feelings of denial, anger, frustration, disappointment, hope, indifference, excitement happen to you all before you’ve put the kettle on for your first cup of coffee in the morning.
It’s no wonder you cant completely ‘enjoy’ it.
“If someone could tell me I’d be ok in the next 3 months, that I’d found a great job, and had no financial or career worries then yes I’d would’ve enjoyed my 3 months ‘off’.” Ann, who now runs her own Graphic Design studio
A thousand problems you didn’t have yesterday are now huge problems today. Your mind fills up with stuck-on-repeat questions.
How do I tell people?
What do I tell people?
How will I pay the bills?
How will I find a new job?
What will people think?
Why me?
Why now?
Our ability to relax and enjoy our new free time might go deeper than just the worry of what happens next.
Studies have shown that we are programmed to understand the equation between work equals pay. And so if we are being paid to not work, or do work that doesn’t exist then we loose our sense of purpose.
In David Greaber’s Bull Shit jobs he explains “Working serves a purpose, or is meant to do so. Being forced to pretend to work just for the sake of working is an indignity, since the demand is perceived – rightly – as the pure exercise of power for its own sake. So being forced out of work, and loosing purpose actually feels like a loss of freedom, not a gain of it. “
Greaber explains further using the theory of German psychologist Karl Groos, ‘pleasure of being the cause’.
As early as 1901, Groos discovered that infants express extraordinary happiness when they first figure out they can cause predictable effects in the world, pretty much regardless of what that effect is or whether it could be construed as having any benefit to them. Let’s say they discover that they can move a pencil by randomly moving their arms. Then they realise they can achieve the same effect by moving in the same pattern again. Expressions of utter joy ensue. Groos coined the phrase “the pleasure at being the cause”, suggesting that it is the basis for play, which he saw as the exercise of powers simply for the sake of exercising them.
If we are causing nothing, we don’t feel like we are anything.
We need work to justify our existence. It defines us. It gives us worth.
We have attached ourselves, our worth, to titles and statuses that when taken away leave us exposed, and without a label explaining our capability or purpose we have to find other ways to demonstrate who we are.
We may even have to find out who we really are, deep. When we are not disguised as busy corporate soldiers, busy dancing to our bosses orders, or busy hiding behind ‘so many’ emails… then who are we? Up until now our busy-ness has helped us avoid a lot things, it’s helped us excuse our bad habits, it’s helped us avoid social occasions we didn’t really want to go to anyway. And now, without the cloak of ‘busy-ness’ we might have to start addressing some of these issues.
So. garden leave, while accepted as better than the alternative of straight forward dismissal, can leave us feeling like empty shells, abandoned in the nest.
What to do on garden leave to make the most of it
Is there a way to make the most of it?
“I went on 4 week backpacking holiday, I would’ve never thought about it before, but once I knew I had 3 months paid leave, I was off, best thing I ever did…. {was I allowed to do that?}” Dawn, finance exec
(err no Dawn not really allowed but we wont tell)
Here are a few things that might help
Do a bit of reality and financial planning… how much time have you got, when do you need to get a job / start earning money?
What are your practical constraints and things that still have to get done? Mortgage, family, children, pets, health issues. List them, accept them, work with them.
Plan your next move. What do you want to happen next? New job, is this a chance to change, start something new? Spend time thinking about your ideal scenario. Who do you need to talk to, what needs to happen, who can help you?
Don’t frantically sign up to all recruitment agencies, go to all interviews offered to you, and speed hit ‘apply for job’ on LinkedIn. Be choosey with how you spend your time. Protect your time and energy the same way as you protect your finances. Spend time, energy and money wisely.
Once you’ve got your practical shizzle outlined then start to let your mind wander… ‘What would you love to be doing right now?’
Is there a version of your dream you can be doing now?
If you want to get fit, start running, start swimming, sign up to a challenge in 3 months time
If you want to learn Spanish find an online course, an evening class
If you want to start a business, start doing some research
Let yourself start doing some things that are in your ‘dream zone’.
Keep yourself on schedule. Even though your days may be less structured, its good to have plans for each day you are on garden leave. No matter how small the task schedule it and work to a plan.
Find ways to keep social. Isolation can happen quickly. Are there fitness classes, catch up with friends, join local networks.
Be confident that you will find a new role, don’t give yourself a hard time while searching. Trust yourself to work it out.
If you have ever been on garden leave, or on garden leave right now, what are the Things that are dominating your thinking?
Are you happy taking this time out?
Are you using it to reevaluate?
Or are you feeling uncomfortable being out of work?
There are so many things that could be influencing how you are feeling about being on garden leave. Although the worry of paying bills is high up on people’s list, the challenge of remaining confident is a very close number 2. This is completely aligned to how you value your worth.
Remind yourself:
It’s only your mind telling you your thoughts
It’s only because you feel you’ve had your power and control taken away, you may not have decided to be redundant but you can decide what happens next
In 12 months time you could be looking back and saying “its the best thing that ever happened”
So enjoy your garden, do those things you keep putting off, use your time to reset your goals, indulge in yourself, trust yourself to make things happen, be confident it’s all going to work out.
Elle
““If I’m not constantly being met by challenges that I am overcoming, how do I know that I’m capable?”
― David Graeber, Bullshit Jobs: A Theory
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