Duda Salabert Files Bill to Count Lunch Breaks as Paid Work

Overview

• The bill (PL 5.783/2026) filed in the Chamber would amend the CLT to count and pay intrajornada lunch and rest periods as work for up to two hours per day and prohibit reducing that right by collective agreement.
• The text says existing contracts cannot suffer salary cuts and sets a 180-day vacatio legis before the rule takes effect if the law is approved.
• Legal experts say the proposal directly conflicts with Supreme Court precedent that has allowed collective bargaining to flexibilize some labor rules and it arrives while industry ADIs over the constitutional cut in weekly hours are pending at the STF.
• If applied with common one-hour lunches the change could cut effective weekly work time to roughly 35–37.5 hours under the new constitutional schedule, which employer groups warn would disrupt staffing and shift costs.
• The measure now begins parliamentary debate and faces a likely courtroom test because the STF will decide how hard the law can limit collective bargaining powers and how the new counting rule fits the phased 42/40-hour schedule.