Brazil Ends Six-Day 6x1 Work Schedule, Cuts Workweek to 40 Hours

Brazil's National Congress formally enacted Constitutional Amendment 141 on October 16, 2026, ending the long-standing "6x1" work schedule, in which employees worked six consecutive days and received only one day off, according to the Senate's official news service, Agência Senado.

The amendment, based on Proposed Constitutional Amendment (PEC) 221/19, lowers the maximum workweek from 44 to 40 hours and guarantees every worker two paid rest days per week, one of them preferably on Sunday, with no reduction in pay, Agência Brasil reported.

How the Change Takes Effect

The new rules apply in two phases. Sixty days after the amendment's publication, the weekly limit falls to 42 hours and employers must move staff onto a five-day schedule. A further reduction to 40 hours follows twelve months after that, according to Agência Brasil's English-language report on the measure.

Outsourced public-sector workers were given a longer transition of twelve months instead of sixty days to adjust, the same Agência Brasil report said. The amendment also applies to existing employment contracts and preserves current wage floors by category, according to Rio Times Online, which reviewed the enacted text.

Who Is Covered, Who Is Exempt

According to DIEESE, the labor-statistics research institute cited by Agência Brasil, 26.8 million workers stand to benefit from the change: around 22 million formal-sector employees, equivalent to 54% of workers under formal contracts, plus 4.8 million informal workers currently working beyond 40 hours a week.

Employees with a university degree earning at least 2.5 times the INSS benefit ceiling — equivalent to roughly 21,188.87 reais a month — are exempt from the hour reduction itself, though they still retain the right to two weekly rest days, Agência Brasil and Rio Times Online reported. The amendment also allows essential sectors such as health care, security, transportation and urban cleaning to keep alternative arrangements, including 12-hour-on/36-hour-off shifts, through collective bargaining, provided the agreed schedule still respects the new limits, Agência Brasil noted.

Support in Congress, Pushback from Business

The Senate approved the amendment on October 14, 2026 by 75 votes to 1, with only Senator Hamilton Mourão voting against, Agência Senado reported. The Chamber of Deputies had approved it earlier, on May 27, 2026, by 461 votes to 19 in the second round. The proposal combined a bill authored by Deputy Reginaldo Lopes (PT-MG) with a separate measure from Deputy Erika Hilton (PSOL-SP), merged by rapporteur Leo Prates, according to Agência Brasil.

Not every lawmaker framed the vote without reservation. Senator Carlos Portinho (PL-RJ) backed the amendment but cautioned, according to Agência Senado, that employment depends on employers and that the country needs to keep producing and generating wealth.

The Brazilian Association of Bars and Restaurants (ABRASEL) opposed the measure. Its president, Paulo Solmucci, described the reform as irresponsible and driven by electoral considerations, according to CNN Brasil. ABRASEL told CNN Brasil that restaurants face payroll cost increases of roughly 20%, that 60% of its member companies currently operate without profit and 20% operate at a loss, and that the 60-day transition before the December holiday season leaves little time to adapt. The association also said service staff could lose income from tips over additional non-working days, estimating 52 days of lost tip income a year.

Some Employers Already Testing Shorter Weeks

Independently of the new law, some business owners had already moved away from the 6x1 model. Isabela Raposeiras, who runs the São Paulo specialty-coffee business Coffee Lab, told CartaCapital she replaced 6x1 shifts with 5x2 schedules for ten employees and a 4x3 rotation for twenty others. She said a bakery she advised that adopted a 4x3 model reported an estimated 30% revenue increase and a 15% rise in profitability, which she attributed to reduced employee fatigue and lower turnover. Raposeiras said the traditional 6x1 schedule resembled conditions of slavery, according to CartaCapital.

Background

The last constitutional change to Brazil's standard workweek dated to the 1988 Constitution, which cut the limit from 48 to 44 hours, according to Agência Brasil. The 6x1 schedule had remained common in retail, food service and other sectors operating seven days a week.