Senate Opens Vote on Ending Brazil’s 6x1 Work Schedule

Overview

• The Federal Senate opened debate and proceeded to a first-turn vote on the PEC to end the 6x1 schedule on Wednesday, October 14, 2026.
• The amendment would replace six‑days‑on/one‑day‑off rosters with a five‑day workweek, guarantee two paid days off and reduce the constitutional weekly limit to 40 hours while keeping pay levels intact.
• Passage requires two separate Senate votes with a three‑fifths majority of 49 of 81 senators in each turn and the Senate now considers a special calendar request to hold both rounds the same day after 56 signatures were reported.
• The government has actively mobilized support and officials signaled President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva may follow the outcome in Congress as unions, workers and business groups press senators over practical impacts.
• Already approved by the Chamber of Deputies, the PEC would be promulgated by Congress only if the Senate backs the Chamber text in both turns with no substantive changes and otherwise could return to the lower house for revisions.