Congress Promulgates Amendment Ending 6x1 and Phasing Workweek to 40 Hours

Overview

• Congress formally promulgated the constitutional amendment on Friday, starting a phased cut from 44 hours to 42 hours in two months and to 40 hours about fourteen months later.
• The text guarantees two paid days of weekly rest, sets an eight-hour daily limit, preserves collective bargaining and compensatory arrangements, and does not allow pay cuts for existing contracts.
• The federal government is drafting a regulatory decree to set technical rules such as hourly-rate calculations for intermittent workers while a complementary law to define transitions for MEIs and small firms still needs to be written and approved.
• Business groups and an Ibre/FGV study cited by critics warn of higher costs and lower output, projecting a roughly 2.9% fall in national output and a 20% rise in labor costs in some scenarios.
• Labour authorities and the president of the Superior Labour Court framed the move as a social and health advance, citing 104 million days lost to sickness between 2015 and 2025, and the amendment includes carve-outs and negotiated exceptions for certain sectors.