Unusual benefit allows trade of time for money.(Chicago Tribune)

Last November, Edwina Sampler, an accountant in the Mount Prospect, Ill., office of Household International Inc., wanted to buy a new car.

"My car had 175,000 miles on it and was in dire need of mechanical repairs," Sampler said. "But I needed more money for a down payment."

Here's how she got the several hundred dollars she needed for the down payment on a sporty, black four-door Honda 2001 CR-V: She "sold" back to her company four days of her annual paid time off.

Household, based in Prospect Heights, Ill., is an international consumer lending company with 32,000 employees worldwide. I

The firm has added an unusual twist to the increasing …