[metafex]

Yes, the employers can and will try to pay out the overtime only after that time. And some are already trying to do just that. There have been large protests which the state media doesn't even cover at all and honestly, calling this propaganda is quite dishonest. Also workers are being "convinced" to sign agreements because otherwise they are out of a job.

Source: Austrian with Hungarian partner, and with friends in Hungary.

[rayiner]

Under the law, overtime hours may not be counted as overtime until a calculation is done over the full reference period. But the article makes it seem like employers can get away with not paying the base wage for those extra hours until three years later. That is false.

The three year reference period also can only be used in a collective bargaining agreement. (Otherwise it’s four months.) So you’re not talking about an individual negotiating with the company under threat of losing her job. It’s the union negotiating with the employer. You’re saying even that isn’t enough—it’s slavery unless the law prevents the union from negotiating a higher reference period. That’s propaganda.

[metafex]

Not all workers have a union. And the current trend in Hungary is to take away more and more workers rights. A law is quite toothless if it's not implemented that way.

Example for workers rights: Currently unemployed people get benefits for some time and after that the state will employ them (see közmunka) for less than minimum wage. In practice, what happens is that some companies previously employed workers with minimum wage, let them go and re-employed them for a lower wage via the state. This in turn creates an incentive to keep those workers in this perpetual state, because it's less desirable to employ them directly. (And no, they don't get any more money from the state or anything to match the loss of wage)