The Minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency, Guilherme Boulos, stated, this Wednesday (25), that the end of the scale of six days of work for one day off (6×1) in Brazil should lead to an increase in the productivity of the country’s economy. In an interview with the program Good morning, Ministerfrom Gov Channelhe defended the reduction of working hours for workers and gave examples of companies that have already adopted new work regimes.
According to Boulos, a study by Fundação Getulio Vargas, in 2024, involving 19 companies that reduced working hours showed an increase in revenue by 72% of them and compliance with deadlines by 44%. “They are reducing even without the legislation”, he highlighted.
“And why does it increase productivity? With six days of work, one day of rest – and sometimes this one, especially for women, is to do care work at home – when that person arrives at work, they are already tired. When that worker is more rested, the result is that they will work better. So, what we support is based on data”, he stated.
The minister also said that the company Microsoft, in Japan, adopted the 4 by 3 scale and had a 40% increase in individual worker productivity.. Boulos also gave an example from other countries.
“Iceland in 2023 reduced to 35 hours [semanais]with a 4 by 3 journey. Do you know what happened? Iceland’s economy grew by 5% and labor productivity increased by 1.5%. In the United States, there has been an average reduction of 35 minutes of work per day over the last three years. It was not a law, this happened due to the market dynamics itself and increased productivity by an average of 2%”, he said.
According to Boulos, the low productivity of the economy is one of the arguments of those who are against changing the work schedule.
“If productivity is low and you don’t want to leave time for workers to take a qualification course, how are you going to increase productivity?”, he asked.
“In fact, an important part of lower than average productivity in Brazil is not the responsibility of the worker, it is the responsibility of the private sector that does not invest in innovation and technology. Almost all investment in innovation, technology and research in Brazil is from the public sector. The Brazilian private sector is one of those that invests the least, in proportion to countries at the same level”, he argued.
The proposal defended by the government is to reduce the current 44 hours of work per week to 40 hours per week, without salary reduction, in a regime of, at most, five days of work for two days off (6×1). The measure must also include a transition period and compensation for micro and small businesses.
“This is the proposal that is being designed for all sectors of the economy in Brazil, for the sake of workers’ dignity,” said Boulos, highlighting that there is progress in the discussion with Congress so that the topic can be voted on this semester.
In February last year, the Chamber of Deputies filed a Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) nº 8/2025 which ends the 6×1 scale. The PEC establishes working hours of a maximum of 36 hours per week and 4 working days per week, but there are other proposals in Congress that deal with reducing working hours.
Fees
The project is resisted by business sectors who also claim that the measure would lead to an increase in companies’ operating costs by hiring more workers.. For Boulos, there is an overestimation of the cost of reducing the scale of work, but for the small ones an adaptation model will be discussed.
The Minister of the General Secretariat criticized high interest rates in Brazil and stated that this puts more pressure on the productive sector.
“Often, these small businesses are in debt due to this excruciating interest rate [abusiva]of loan sharking, which we have in Brazil”, he stated.
One of the instruments to control inflation is the basic interest rate (Selic), currently defined at 15% per year by the Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) of the Central Bank.
Even with the decline in prices, the Selic is at its highest level since July 2006, when it was at 15.25% per year. After reaching 10.5% per year in May 2024, the rate began to increase in September 2024. Selic reached 15% per year at the meeting in June last year, and has been maintained at this level since then.
“It’s past time to reduce this interest rate, because 15% interest no worker can handle and no businessman can handle. How are you going to increase investment? How are you going to find working capital with this cost of money? There’s no point in the slightest. So, part of the problem that will alleviate small, medium and, in this case, even large businesspeople in Brazil is the excruciating and unjustifiable interest rate reduction”, he argued.
The next Copom meeting takes place on January 27th and 28th. In a statement, at the last meeting in December, the board gave no clues as to when it should start cutting interest rates. The BC informed that the current scenario is marked by great uncertainty, which requires caution in monetary policy, and that the institution’s strategy is to maintain the Selic at this level for a long time.
