Duda Salabert Proposes Counting Lunch Breaks as Paid Work

Overview

• The bill PL 5.783/2026, presented by deputy Duda Salabert on Thursday, would change the CLT so intrajornada intervals for food and rest up to two hours per day are counted and paid as working time.
• The text requires that applying the change to existing contracts not cut wages and forbids unions and employers from using collective bargaining to waive or reduce the new right.
• If approved and sanctioned, the law would take effect 180 days after publication, which could shorten many workers' daily presence at work and cut effective weekly hours in practice.
• Employer groups have already challenged the wider 6x1 transition timetable in court and lawmakers are preparing a parallel PEC to craft sector-specific rules, while the STF has been drawn into talks over implementation timing.
• The proposal arrives after a constitutional amendment promulgated on October 16 that phases the legal weekly ceiling from 44 to 42 hours and then to 40 hours, a change that shapes the bill's potential impact on schedules for health, transport and other sectors.