Slavery Act: Modification of the Hungarian Labour Code―Legal Analysis

In the middle of December 2018, Hungary has suddenly appeared in the headlines of international news. Although marketing teaches that “all PR is good PR”, as a lawyer, the author thinks it is worth examining the facts behind the catchy headlines well before making our business decisions. The news is based on the amendment of the Labour Code, which is called the “Slavery Act” in the media. The demonstrations and atrocities reported by the international media have broken out as a result of the interpretation of the amendment by some part of the media, which was recently adopted by Parliament. The President of Hungary promulgated the act when this article was completed. What does the new amendment say? Could an employee become a “slave” of the employer, or rather it would help people’s prosperity by allow them to work more to earn more money? Considering the interests of the citizens/employees, can the choice between adoption or rejection of the law be the only possibility, does the new system also have a third possibility using the law’s and the economy’s own logic, or should only a small “fine-tuning” be implemented on the new system?