HUNGARIAN MPs approved sweeping attacks on workers’ rights today, passing a Bill denounced as the “slave labour law” by trade unions and the opposition.

The law, introduced by the ruling Fidesz party of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, raises the legal limit on overtime from 250 hours to 400 a year and extends the period management has to settle accrued overtime pay from one to three years.

Unions say the extension will allow bosses to avoid paying premium rates for overtime, as they gain more flexibility to give workers fewer hours than normal at less busy times and then claim the average over three years has been within ordinary hours. Justin Spike, writing in the Budapest Beacon earlier this year, observed that employers would gain greater power to deny employees any time off in busy periods or any work in slack periods.