Hearts Football Club has announced it will implement the 'living wage' for all its employees, just months after the Edinburgh side exited administration.

The club's majority shareholder Ann Budge said the Hearts board would formalise the £7.65-an-hour minimum for all workers at its annual general meeting in December.

It becomes the first club in Scotland to implement the policy, which is championed by anti-poverty campaigners and trade unions.

The announcement comes just days after it emerged the board of Scottish champions Celtic had advised shareholders to vote against the living wage at its agm next month.

The Parkhead side announced in September it had made an £11.2million pre-tax profit last season despite a significant drop in revenue, while chief executive Peter Lawwell received nearly £1million in his annual salary.

Ms Budge, who fronted the consortium which bought Hearts earlier this year, said the living wage payments would be extended to contract workers at Tynecastle.

She said: "An AGM will be held in December, prior to Christmas. I will confirm the date once I have clarity on when the 2013/14 audited accounts are likely to be available.

"Having reviewed the salary structure across all areas of the club, we propose to implement the nationally-approved Living Wage, across all staff, including part-time and contract workers. We have taken steps to register with the Living Wage Foundation thereby formalising our commitment.

"We believe we will be the first football club in Scotland to sign up for this. We further believe it is entirely in keeping with the values we hold dear as a club."

The Celtic board's recommendation to shareholders to reject paying around 120 staff a minimum of £7.65 sparked criticism from campaigners and claims by one of the club's MSP supporters, James Kelly, who said that he had written to Mr Lawwell criticising the move.

Dave Moxham, deputy general secretary of the STUC, described Celtic's decision as an "enormous disappointment, given its wage structure" and said it had "not been seen fit to mete out better treatment to Celtic's hard-working employees".