Brasilia - In light of the intention of the Speaker of the House, Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB), to vote by May on a proposed amendment to the Constitution (PEC) regarding the possible end of the 6x1 work schedule , with government support, the business community has launched a strong reaction movement in Brasilia and is already working with the National Congress to ensure that the discussion of the topic takes place in the House plenary only after the October elections - preferably in 2027, with a new composition of the Legislature.
Business entities in sectors such as commerce, services, agribusiness, and industry avoid using the term "shift schedule" and prefer to call it "modernization of work," but behind the scenes they are fiercely opposed to ending the 6x1 shift schedule (six days worked with one day off). They argue that if the current schedule is eliminated without any transition, it will lead to increased costs for employers, increased informality, and even a possible reduction in wages.
These associations, however, have indicated that they are willing to reduce the current work week in the country, which is 44 hours, provided there is a gradual reduction (for example, a reduction of 1 hour per year).
“If there’s an agreement, we can vote this year, but if not, after the election, next year, we’ll have this debate. And President Motta can even schedule it for February if he wants,” Congressman Joaquim Passarinho (PL-PA), president of the Parliamentary Front for Entrepreneurship (FPE), which has been organizing several debates on the subject with other fronts in defense of the business community, told NeoFeed.
“We are against the PEC as it stands today [ending the 6x1 schedule]. But we accept a transition to the new model and prefer to discuss working hours rather than schedules,” he adds. For him, the discussion cannot be rushed or conducted without a technical basis, otherwise the political burden of approving the end of the 6x1 schedule will fall “on the shoulders of deputies and senators.”
Next Tuesday, March 17th, a first meeting is scheduled with the Speaker of the House and presidents of business associations to discuss the topic, at a luncheon hosted by the FPE. The government advocates voting on the issue in the first half of this year, at least in the Chamber of Deputies.
Last week, the Coalition of Productive Fronts, which brings together five parliamentary fronts linked to the productive sector, including the FPE, launched a manifesto signed by 90 employers' associations (CNI, CNA, Fiesp, Ambimaq, CNC, among others) advocating a debate that also includes productivity gains and a transition to the eventual implementation of new rules for the labor market. The text was even delivered to the president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP).
“The discussion of the 6x1 shift schedule raises a major debate: if we reduce working hours, we will need more people, but in our transport sector, for example, we have an old problem which is the shortage of labor. We may have a decrease in the supply of products as a result of these changes [in legislation],” said Danielle Bernardes, government executive manager of the National Confederation of Transport (CNT), at an event organized by FPE with business entities this Tuesday, the 10th, in Brasília.
“Do we really have such outdated [labor] legislation? It’s a fallacy to say that reducing working hours increases productivity,” said Rodrigo Hugueney, coordinator of the National Labor Relations Commission of the Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil (CNA), during the same event.
The scale of government
The government, on the other hand, has made it a priority to approve a bill to eliminate the 6x1 work schedule. This Tuesday, March 10th, the Minister of Labor, Luiz Marinho, even revealed that the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) advocates a reduction in the work week from the current 44 hours to 40 hours and a 5x2 schedule (five days worked and two days off during the week).
There was an expectation that this proposal would be included in a bill with constitutional urgency to be sent by the Executive branch, but he ruled out that possibility and said he would accept that the points defended by the government be included in one of the bills currently being processed in the Chamber of Deputies.
This 40-hour work week model advocated by the Ministry of Labor takes into account an internal study based on IBGE data, which analyzed 50.3 million employment contracts available through the e-Social system. It reveals that two-thirds of Brazilian workers already work on a 5x2 schedule, however with a workload of 44 hours per week – 74% of workers with formal employment contracts in Brazil (CLT) are hired for 44 hours per week.
“We don’t want to stifle the economy. A 40-hour work week is perfectly feasible. This [end of the 6x1 schedule and shorter work hours] is not the end of the world,” said Marinho, during a public hearing at the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) of the Chamber of Deputies.
The main proposals under discussion in the Chamber are two proposed constitutional amendments (PECs) that propose reducing the work week to 36 hours: one authored by Representative Reginaldo Lopes (PT-MG); and another by Representative Érika Hilton (PSOL-SP), which also eliminates the 6x1 model and stipulates a 4x3 schedule (four days of work and three days of rest per week). Both proposals are awaiting a report from the rapporteur in the Chamber's Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ), Representative Paulo Azi (União-BA).
The CCJ, however, only assesses the admissibility of the PECs, or whether they are constitutional or comply with legal aspects, without considering the merits. After the committee, if approved, the proposals must be discussed in a special committee; however, the short timeframe, due to it being an election year, worries the government and left-wing parties that advocate for the end of the 6x1 work schedule.
