Brazil Just Ended The Six-Day Workweek And It Passed 75 To 1

Brazil's Senate voted 75 to 1 on October 14, 2026, to approve a constitutional amendment ending the country's six-days-on, one-day-off work schedule, known in Brazil as 6x1, and reducing the standard workweek from 44 hours to 40 hours with a guaranteed two paid days off per week. Because the Senate approved the identical text already passed by the lower house in May, the amendment bypasses presidential signature and goes directly to Congress for formal promulgation. Senate President Davi Alcolumbre described the change plainly from the floor: at first glance it may seem like a subtle change, but for those who wake up early, take a crowded bus, work their shift, and return home at the end of the day, this change is enormous. One more day of rest means more time for family. The amendment is the first constitutional reduction in Brazil's standard workweek since 1988, when the workweek was cut from 48 hours to 44, and it will take effect in phases. Workers will gain the right to two paid days off per week and a 42-hour maximum 60 days after the amendment is formally promulgated, with the full 40-hour workweek taking effect approximately a year after that. Employers are explicitly prohibited from reducing salaries because of the shorter workweek.

The story of how this amendment reached a 75-to-1 Senate vote starts with a TikTok. Rick Azevedo was working as a pharmacy clerk when he filmed a video in 2023 describing his work routine under the 6x1 schedule and asking when the working class of Brazil would start a revolution over it. He called the schedule not modern slavery but outdated slavery, and the video received more than a million views. Azevedo built the Life Beyond Work movement around the response, was elected to Brazil's lower house in October 2026, and watched the Senate pass the amendment he had been part of pushing for just two weeks after his election. The original proposal for the change was introduced as far back as 2019 by a member of President Lula's Workers' Party, but it was the viral TikTok and the movement that followed which gave it the political momentum to finally cross the finish line. Labor economists who have analyzed previous workweek reductions in Brazil noted that the 1988 reduction from 48 to 44 hours was accompanied by employment growth rather than job losses, contradicting business lobby warnings that shorter hours would hurt hiring. Adriana Marcolino of Dieese, a labor movement-linked research institute, said there is no documented case of shorter working hours leading to higher unemployment, and José Dari Krein of the University of Campinas said workers with more free time may spend more on leisure, restaurants, and entertainment, stimulating other sectors as a result. About 38 percent of Brazil's workforce is informal and will not immediately benefit from the change. For the 62 percent who are formally employed, two days off a week is, as of this week, the law of the land.

Source:https://www.courthousenews.com/brazil-approves-end-of-six-day-workweek/