Realistically though, you're never going to have a system where it's generally more attractive financially to spend a couple years on the beach than to keep working. That's a perverse incentive.

But, yes, that's the thing with gardening leave. There are certainly some people who would be fine with taking a year off at significantly reduced pay--but not the majority.

It's a great start into freelancing though. They have to pay you 60% of your former salary upto 110% of it.

Take the average over the last years? If the employer doesn't want to pay that then the employee can always go work for a competitor, right?

That's why he suggested "average of preceding years". Maybe you allow companies to appeal to reduce the amount based on a decline in profits leading to reduced bonuses for employees on identical schemes, but... Meh. If they want to use non-compete clauses I think they should bear that risk. It will make companies think hard about on whom they should impose them, which in my opinion is the point of creating restrictions.