What is it about?
Employees often feel objectified at work, but our studies show that receiving vacation time instead of money as a reward makes them feel more human. This is because time off helps people psychologically detach from work, reinforcing their sense of personal value and well-being.
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Why is it important?
Our findings reveal a unique psychological benefit of time-based rewards: they enhance employees’ sense of humanness—feeling valued and treated as more than just a worker. While most incentive research focuses on monetary rewards, our work suggests that organizations seeking to promote employee well-being and foster a more humane environment should consider time-based rewards. These rewards are a powerful—yet underused—tool for aligning incentive systems with a more people-centered approach to work.
Perspectives
The pandemic changed how people think about work. More than ever, employees care about having control over their time and balancing work with life. But not everyone has that luxury. Many frontline and hourly workers still don’t get flexible schedules or the chance to work remotely—highlighting a growing gap in workplace fairness. This paper makes a simple case: time off can be just as powerful as money when it comes to rewarding employees. Especially for those who don’t have flexibility built into their jobs, giving people more time—not just more pay—can be a meaningful way to show respect and value.
Alice Lee-Yoon
University of Missouri at Saint Louis
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A humanizing separation from work: the benefits of rewarding people with vacation instead of money, Journal of Managerial Psychology, August 2025, Emerald,
DOI: 10.1108/jmp-07-2024-0517.
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