A California steel company has found a creative way to avoid laying off idle employees while helping local charities, according to the Redlands Daily Facts.

For the past month and a half, workers at California Steel Industries, in Fontana, a company that has seen its business slow, have been asked to spend some of their working days volunteering at local nonprofit groups. The employees are paid for their time, and the company is planning to write off the expense as a charitable deduction.

The volunteers have been a boon for at least one local charity. “They’ve done everything around here. We’re almost caught up with all our projects. It’s really great,” said Carmen Hall, executive director of Pacific Lifeline, which provides transitional housing for women and children.