No, points are not redeemable for rewards when the rewards setting is turned off.
This was a deliberate choice by the Recognize team to ensure that your staff doesn't accumulate a tremendous amount of points before any reward is offered and able to be redeemed. If staff did accrue too many points, the rewards would lose their attractiveness, because staff would have access to redeem any reward at the beginning of the rewards program.
To find out how to enable rewards, disable rewards, or set up your rewards catalog, view our Rewards: Step-by-Step Instructions article.