The University of Strathclyde and Carnoustie Golf Links are the latest organisations in Scotland to sign up to paying the living wage.

The move takes the total number of firms in Scotland accredited as living wage employers to 338, with campaigners hopeful 500 will be on board by March.

The news was confirmed by Fair Work Secretary Roseanna Cunningham at the country's first living wage expo in Edinburgh, which has brought together about 115 bodies that already pay the living wage or are considering doing so.

She said: "Our latest signees are one of Scotland's finest universities and a regular host of golf's Open Championship.

"I hope, like many of the other firms accredited to date, they can help us set a good example to others around the country and help tackle low pay.

"These organisations are showing that the benefits of paying the living wage, including increased staff morale, reduced absenteeism and higher levels of productivity, far exceed any barriers to paying it."

Graeme Duncan, general manager of the Carnoustie Golf Links management committee (CGLMC) said: "Treating staff fairly has been important to the trustees of Carnoustie Golf Links for many years and the decision to implement the living wage for all employees is a natural step for us as an organisation."

Professor Sir Jim McDonald, principal of the Glasgow-based University of Strathclyde, said: "We are delighted to be accredited as a living wage employer, a status reflecting our continuing commitment to our own university values - people-oriented, bold, innovative, collaborative and ambitious."

The announcement was made as Scottish ministers criticised the UK Government's plans for a national living wage.

Ms Cunningham has branding the proposals for a living wage of £7.20 an hour a "misappropriation of the term" and claimed the plan discriminates against under-25s.

"There also needs to be absolutely no doubt that the higher national minimum wage announced in the Chancellor's budget is not and should not be called a living wage," she said.

"The Scottish Government is committed to tackling low pay and the best means of doing so is by signing up to the real living wage to make a real difference to low income families."