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6h ago

Brazil Senate Approves 40-Hour Workweek Constitutional Amendment

President Lula plans to sign the measure that he says will expand workers’ rest time and that gives businesses 14 months to comply.

Supporters of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is running for reelection, shout slogans during a rally ahead of the presidential runoff election, in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro speaks to the press after visiting his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro who is serving his sentence for a coup attempt at home, in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Supporters of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is running for reelection, stand on a dumpster during a rally ahead of the presidential runoff election, in Rio de Janeiro,Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, center, and his wife Fernanda pose for a selfie with a youth after attending Mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of Aparecida, the patron saint of Brazil, on her feast day in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Arthur Menescal)

Overview

  • The Senate approved the constitutional amendment in two votes by 75-1, with final passage confirmed on Wednesday.
  • The change cuts the legal maximum workweek from 44 to 40 hours without reducing pay and ends the ‘6x1’ six-days-on/one-day-off schedule for affected workers.
  • The government estimates more than 37 million formal-sector workers could benefit while about 16 million who work the 6x1 schedule will gain an extra day off.
  • Senator Flávio Bolsonaro reversed earlier opposition shortly before the vote, and he and allied politicians have said a future Congress could seek to review the measure.
  • Business groups oppose the change on cost and productivity grounds, and the amendment’s 14-month phase-in was a negotiated compromise after firms pushed for a much longer transition.