Factory workers have received a £57,000 thank-you for helping to save their company from collapse during the worst days of the recession.

Label Apeel, of Braunstone Frith, Leicester, put its 39 staff on a four-day week last year after a slump in orders left it in financial difficulties.

The food label maker also stopped contributing to workers' pension pots while bosses fought to keep the business afloat.

But after an upturn in trade, company owner Stuart Kellock has paid the £7,000 which his staff lost out on by not working a full week and is putting £50,000 back into their pensions.

Mr Kellock said: "We were in a tight spot and there was a possibility we could have gone under if these cutbacks were not made at that time. Once things improved, paying them the money was the right thing to do."

One industry veteran said it was the first time he had heard of a company making such a gesture.

Staff agreed in March to reduce their working week from 39 to 31 hours for three weeks, losing out on an average £180 each.

They also allowed the company to stop contributing to their pension pots between March and December while the business strengthened its balance sheet. The £50,000 they missed out on will now be paid into their schemes over the next 12 months on top of the firm's usual contribution.

Mr Kellock said the firm had managed to turn things around after winning a series of new orders, including a major contract with bakery chain Greggs.

"It was the right thing to do because the staff had no control over what was happening and that level of flexibility and trust needed to be repaid," he said.

Steve Thurlow, 55, a printer from Glen Parva, was delighted to receive the £300 he had lost out on.

"We agreed to do it to safeguard our jobs, but we didn't think we would get it back," he said. "I did a four-day week for another company and I didn't get my money back then."

Dennis Kent, a Leicester factory owner and regional spokesman for the Engineering Employers' Federation, which represents thousands of manufacturers across the UK, said: "I've never heard anything like this before and I take my hat off to them. It's good to see that as well as sharing the pain, the company is sharing the success."

About 500 shopfloor staff at construction equipment maker Caterpillar, of Desford, worked four-day and three-day weeks for a number of months last year to safeguard jobs. They have now returned to full-time working after a pick-up in trade.

A spokesman said staff would not be paid wages they had lost.

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