The gardening leave still works as long as it's beneficial to both parties. The employee gets an effective long, paid holiday and the company gets a non-complete equivalent. Now they have to really ensure that pay is worth more than changing the employer though.
It's less "end of at-will" and more "if you want effective non-competes, it's going to cost you".
It's less "end of at-will" and more "if you want effective non-competes, it's going to cost you".