Almost 135,000 people in Scotland are employed by accredited Living Wage employers, according to new figures obtained in the Scottish Parliament last week.

Roseanna Cunningham, fair work secretary, said there were 134,908 people employed by Scots-based Living Wage employers as at 24 August 2015, citing data provided by the Poverty Alliance and the number of employees at the time of accreditation.

Around 200 groups and businesses, including the Scottish Government, are accredited Living Wage employers, meaning they pay at least £7.85 an hour.

The Scottish Government is committed to seeing 500 accredited Living Wage employers in Scotland by 2016.

Commenting on the figures, Mark McDonald MSP said: “Almost 135,000 people now work for Scottish-based Living Wage accredited employers – not just in Scotland but across the UK. The Poverty Alliance, who run the accreditation scheme with Scottish Government funding, and Scotland’s businesses should be commended for this fantastic achievement.

“The First Minister has set the ambitious goal of 500 Living Wage accredited businesses in Scotland by March next year, with 300 businesses already signed-up great progress has been made but there must be no let-up in the hard work.

“We want Scotland to be the best place to do business in the UK and by expanding Living Wage accreditation we can also have the businesses with the best reputation in the UK. Signing up to the Living Wage isn’t just the right thing to do – it can help businesses attract and keep the best staff leading to increases in their productivity.

“I would encourage businesses across Scotland to explore the considerable benefits of Living Wage accreditation, both for their employees and for their business, and sign up.”