The purpose of this study was to investigate the long-term impact of subjective need for recovery from work on perceived sleep quality. The sample consisted of 70 British white-collar workers (age M=41.8; 29% females) that participated in a survey study and also volunteered for a fieldstudy about 4 years later. Hierarchic regression analysis was used for the analysis. An indicator of baseline sleep quality entered in the first step of the equation, gender and age in the second step, thereafter concurrent psychosocial working conditions. Baseline subjective need for recovery from work was entered in the final step. The result showed baseline need for recovery from work to significantly affect perceived sleep quality (measured by PSQI) 4 years later. The results suggest that subjective need for recovery from work may be an important indicator of long-term wellbeing and that future stress research should take the recovery process into further consideration.