Fashion retailer Penneys will pay compensation to almost 4,000 employees of the Rana Plaza complex in Bangladesh, which collapsed in April killing more than 1,100 people.

Penneys will pay three months’ wages to employees who worked at the factory or their dependents as short-term financial aid. The collapse of the eight-storey building is understood to be the worst industrial disaster in Bangladesh’s history and sparked protests among garment factory workers in the capital, Dhaka. Many of those killed were women.

Employees in the building produced clothing for a number of well-known fashion brands including Benetton, Mango, Monsoon and Walmart.

Penneys has committed to pay $1 million in food distribution and short-term financial support as well as longer-term financial compensation.

Since the disaster, more than 30 retailers have signed the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, which aims to improve working conditions and factory safety.

However, to date Gap and Asda-Walmart have not signed the agreement.