WARN Act and Garden Leave — Are You Paid to Stay Home During the Notice Period?

When a WARN notice arrives, most workers expect to keep working until the effective date. Sometimes, though, the employer takes a different route: you are told not to come in, not to log on, and not to contact clients or colleagues — but you are still being paid. That arrangement is often called garden leave.

Garden leave is not a WARN Act term. It is an arrangement an employer may use during a notice period, and it confuses people because it looks like a layoff, feels like a suspension, and is neither.

What garden leave actually means

Garden leave means you remain employed and paid, but you are not required — or not permitted — to work during some or all of your notice period. You keep receiving regular salary, your employment has not yet ended, and you are asked to return equipment, hand over projects, and stay away from company systems and clients.

The key point is that garden leave is not paid time off to spend as you like. The employer is still paying you, and may restrict what you do, including starting a new job. Exact restrictions depend on your contract or company policy, not the WARN Act alone.

How garden leave fits the 60-day notice rule

The federal WARN Act generally requires covered employers to give 60 calendar days' written notice before a plant closing or mass layoff. The notice period runs from the notice date to the effective date, when the employment loss is scheduled to take effect.

Garden leave does not shorten that period. If you are on garden leave for the whole notice period, the employer is still giving you notice — it is simply choosing not to have you work during it. Your effective date, the date on the WARN filing, is what counts, not your last day in the office.

An employer that gives too little notice can owe back pay and benefits for the shortfall. Garden leave, by contrast, is paid time, so garden leave during a full 60-day notice period is not, on its own, a WARN violation. A problem arises only if notice itself was too short, or pay stops before the effective date. Being sent home does not cancel the notice or move the effective date earlier.

Are you still employed on garden leave?

Yes, in the usual arrangement, you are still an employee until the effective date. You are generally still covered by employer health insurance until employment ends, subject to plan terms, and you usually keep accruing employment-linked benefits unless your contract says otherwise. You are not yet eligible to claim a layoff for purposes requiring employment to have ended, such as unemployment benefits in most states.

So do not confuse garden leave with termination: your last day of employment is normally the effective date, not the day you stopped working. Keep the notice and garden-leave letter as proof of that timeline.

Garden leave is not severance, paid leave, or suspension

These arrangements differ. Garden leave means you are still employed, still paid, but not working, during the notice period. Severance pay is money paid after employment ends, usually under an agreement or policy; it is not required by the federal WARN Act, though an employer may offer it separately. Paid time off is vacation or sick leave you have earned, and taking it does not by itself extend employment. Suspension is a disciplinary or investigatory step that does not necessarily mean your job is ending.

An employer can combine these, but one does not imply the other. Read any severance agreement separately: signing may affect claims and non-compete obligations.

What to watch, and what to do

Because you are still employed, contract restrictions still apply. Check in writing whether you may interview or accept work before the effective date, whether starting early ends your pay, whether a non-compete restricts working for a competitor, and whether confidentiality duties bar taking company documents. Also confirm when health coverage ends, whether COBRA will be offered, and how unused vacation is treated, since rules vary by state and employer. Get written confirmation of your title, employment dates, and effective date before system access ends.

As of November 3, 2026, Layoff Atlas tracks 658 notices covering 62,497 reported workers in its 90-day window, with 25 worker counts unavailable. California leads with 18,196 reported workers, followed by Washington with 17,215, Illinois with 3,649, Texas with 2,978, and Virginia with 2,373. Upcoming effective weeks include 2,350 workers in the week of November 3, 6,887 in the week of November 10, 6,613 in the week of November 17, and 9,300 in the week of November 24. These are reported plans, not confirmed job losses: coverage varies by state, and totals exclude unavailable counts.

If placed on garden leave, confirm salary and benefits in writing until the effective date, return equipment promptly, do not use company systems after access ends, and check coverage and final-pay timing. Knowing you are still employed until the effective date helps avoid the two most common mistakes: starting a new job too early, and assuming employment has already ended.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Garden-leave terms, non-compete enforceability, and final-pay rules vary by contract and by state.

Data source: Layoff Atlas