A humanizing separation from work: the benefits of rewarding people with vacation instead of money

Purpose In the context of the labor relationship, this paper investigates whether receiving vacation, compared to an equivalent monetary bonus, enhances employees’ feelings of humanness. Design/methodology/approach Three preregistered experiments with 2,206 total participants were conducted using recall and vignette methodologies. Findings Receiving vacation significantly increased employees’ feelings of humanness compared to equivalent monetary bonuses. In Study 1, recalling vacation experiences led to greater felt humanness than recalling monetary bonuses. Study 2 showed that hypothetically receiving additional vacation days (vs money) enhanced perceived segmentation, which mediated the positive effect on humanness. Study 3 provided direct causal evidence that greater segmentation during a hypothetical vacation increased felt humanness. Practical implications These findings provide managers with empirical evidence supporting the psychological benefits of offering vacation as a reward. Organizations aiming to enhance employee well-being and reinforce humane workplace values might benefit from incorporating time-based rewards into their incentive structures. Originality/value This paper is the first to empirically compare vacation and monetary rewards on perceived humanness. It contributes novel insights into the role of segmentation in reward perception, highlighting the unique advantage of time off in promoting psychological detachment from work and enhancing employees’ holistic sense of feeling human.