Yep. This is what we do in finance. It sucks a bit because most of our comp is bonus and you only get your base pay on garden leave, but I’m shocked this isn’t a requirement.
Garden leave isn’t a panacea. And in MA it’s minimum 50% of salary. It does make the employer put skin in the game which is no small thing. But it may end up with someone not being able to be in a competitive job for a year for maybe 25% of their prior comp. Not a great situation for a lot of people.