Brazil Ends 6x1 Work Schedule With Constitutional Amendment

Overview

• Congress promulgated the constitutional amendment in mid‑October, formally ending the 6x1 rota that gave workers one day off after six straight workdays.
• The amendment guarantees at least two paid days off per week and sets a phased reduction of the legal workweek from 44 to 42 hours on December 16, 2026 and to 40 hours on December 16, 2027.
• The text explicitly bars salary cuts as hours fall and estimates that about 14.8 million Brazilian workers will directly benefit from the change.
• New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani publicly praised the reform in a social post tied to his September meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and described the change as a major win for workers.
• Beyond the legal shifts, the amendment restores weekly rest time and could affect shift patterns, overtime pay rules and workers’ leisure time, making implementation and enforcement over the next year key issues to watch.