The commitment will see everyone working at the Association, regardless of whether they are direct employees or third-party contracted staff, receive a minimum hourly wage of £9.00.

This rate is significantly higher than the statutory minimum for over 25s of £7.83 per hour introduced in April 2018.

Calculated according to the real costs of living, the real Living Wage is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually.

David McCready, chair of Barrhead Housing Association, said: “We are delighted to have been accredited as a Living Wage Employer. We have paid all our staff above the living wage for a number of years, so we were keen to join the growing number of Scottish employers who have been recognised for making this important commitment. Beyond our own staff, we also have a plan in place to maximise the commitment to the Living Wage across the contractors we use.”

Employers choose to pay the real Living Wage on a voluntary basis.

Peter Kelly, director of the Poverty Alliance, said: “The real Living Wage is one of the key tools at our disposal to help make an impact on levels of in-work poverty in Scotland. There is a strong business case for paying the Living Wage; but crucially it allows those in work to become more included in society, better provide for their families, and feel that their value and hard work is recognised by their employer. We are delighted to congratulate Barrhead Housing Association on becoming a Living Wage employer. I hope more organisations follow their lead by becoming accredited.”

Julie McGahan, Living Wage Scotland manager, added: “We are delighted to welcome Barrhead Housing Association to the Living Wage movement.

“We are a movement of over 1200 Scottish employers who together want to go further than the government minimum to make sure that all their staff earn enough to live on. We have lots of smaller employers as well as larger and iconic Scottish employers like SSE, Standard Life, Barrs, Mackies, ScotRail, D.C. Thomson and many more.

“These businesses recognise that the Living Wage accreditation is the mark of a responsible employer and they, like Barrhead Housing Association join us, because they too believe that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.”