A paid waiting period after you resign where the company keeps paying your salary but blocks you from working anywhere, designed to keep you away from clients and competitors.
Quant researchers leaving Citadel and Citadel Securities have been held to garden leaves of eighteen to twenty-four months, fully paid, before they can start at a competitor. The firm has sued former employees including Jane Street and Schonfeld hires when the cooling-off period was breached, with multiple cases reaching New York and Illinois courts in the early 2020s.