Brazil’s Senate approves shorter workweek ahead of Lula–Bolsonaro runoff

Brazil’s Senate voted 75–1 on October 14 to approve a constitutional amendment ending six-day workweeks and phasing in a 40-hour maximum week without a pay cut. The vote gives President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who campaigned for the change, a potential boost before his October 25 election runoff against Flávio Bolsonaro, though its effect on voters remains uncertain.

When Brazil’s shorter workweek would take effect

The measure ends the ‘6x1’ schedule, under which employees work six days and have one day off, and lowers the current 44-hour weekly limit. The Guardian reports that, 60 days after the amendment is promulgated, six-day workweeks will be abolished and the maximum week will fall to 42 hours. The limit will then fall to 40 hours after a further 14 months. The changes will not take effect before the runoff.

The Guardian says the lower house passed the proposal in May. It traces the campaign to the ‘Life Beyond Work’ TikTok movement, founded by a pharmacy assistant who later entered politics. Lula subsequently embraced the proposal, making shorter hours a flagship campaign pledge and holding rallies for its passage, according to the Guardian and the Bloomberg report carried by The Straits Times.

Workers affected by the 6x1 change

The Guardian says the end of six-day schedules would mainly affect workers in retail, restaurants and hotels, many of them low-paid. The reports give different estimates because they describe different groups: The Straits Times and the Guardian put the number on 6x1 schedules at about 16 million, while the Guardian says the 40-hour cap affects more than 30 million. Deutsche Welle cites a government estimate that more than 37 million people could benefit.

The vote before the Lula–Bolsonaro runoff

Lula called the Senate vote a victory for workers and said shorter hours would give people more time to live, rest and be with their families, according to the three reports. Flávio Bolsonaro, who had previously opposed the measure, said on October 13 that he would support it because most workers backed it, The Straits Times and Deutsche Welle report. The Guardian says he was among the 75 senators who voted yes.

Before changing position, Bolsonaro had sought to delay the vote until after the election and supported an alternative under which employees could negotiate hours with businesses, according to The Straits Times. The outlet also cites a Quaest poll released October 14 showing Bolsonaro on 51% and Lula on 49% of valid votes in the runoff. Those figures describe voting intentions before the October 25 contest; they do not measure the Senate vote’s effect.