I read your article about councils paying staff £2.6 million too much with interest (The Argus, May 6), and fully support the transparency that now exists in the public sector that enables these figures to be obtained.

However, to put matters in perspective, I deal with more than 80 employers in Brighton and Hove, both public and private, and errors of over- and under-payment of staff are not uncommon.

In virtually all instances a sensible and appropriate response produces results accepted by both parties, with a little help from the trade union.

To give one example, which arose the same day as your report, a member of Unison employed in a private care home found she had been overpaid by an average of £10 per week for four years.

She had no way of knowing this as her pay varied week on week due to shift payments, sleep-ins and so forth.

And the employer had not issued her with payslips (which, in itself, is unlawful).

The employer could have sued her for the overpayment – in turn we could have sued for breach of contract.

Sensibly, the overpayment was written off and she agreed not to take legal action. This, even in these days of austerity, is the bread and butter of industrial relations – solutions that suit both parties. In short, common sense.

Alex Knutsen, Unison