The company has announced that almost 20,000 of its employees across the UK will receive at least the living wage rate, which is set at a level to ensure staff can cover their basic cost of living including housing, bills, food and work travel.
The move has made SSE the biggest British company by market capitalisation to introduce the living wage and one of only three in the FTSE 100.
It is also the first major energy company to sign up to the wage.
Alistair Phillips-Davies, SSE chief executive, said the announcement demonstrated that it valued its staff and that it was “willing to pay them at a level which shows them we mean it”.
In total, 148 employees in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland have received a wage increase, averaging about £1000 and the increase has been backdated to April.
The company, which supplies energy to customers under the Scottish Hydro, Southern Electric, SWALEC and Airtricity brands, also said it would ensure its supply chain, worth over £2bn a year, would pay employees the wage. This will come into effect from April 2014.
Rhys Moore, director of the Living Wage Foundation said: “Today’s announcement is a real milestone in the history of the living wage movement.
“We now have the first energy supplier, the first UK utility and the first company in the top third of the FTSE 100 to become an accredited living wage employer. The history of the living wage campaign teaches us that others will follow this lead.”