The Minister of Labor and Employment, Luiz Marinho, stated this Tuesday (30) that the year 2026 could be suitable for the approval, by the National Congress, of the reduction of the weekly working hours to 40 hours per week and the end of the 6×1 work scheduleone in which the employee works six consecutive days for one rest day. During a press conference to announce data on[https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/economia/noticia/2025-12/brasil-registra-saldo-positivo-de-858-mil-vagas-de-trabalho-em-novemb” target=”_blank”>empregos formais gerados em novembro, o ministro apontou que a mobilização social pode impulsionar o avanço do tema justamente em um ano eleitoral. 
“A jornada de trabalho, até por ser um ano eleitoral, talvez até facilite [a aprovação]rather than being difficult. It will depend a lot on how the categories, how the class [trabalhadora] mobilizes”, he analyzed.
The minister compared the issue of reducing working hours with the approval of the Income Tax exemption for those earning up to R$5,000 per month, which[https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/economia/noticia/2025-11/lula-sanciona-isencao-do-ir-para-quem-ganha-ate-5-mil” target=”_blank”> passou por unanimidade nas duas Casas, no segundo semestre deste ano.
“Ali [no Congresso] the debate on approving the Income Tax the way it was approved was hostile, with the top party having to pay the difference. He passed through the heat of the streets. That congressional unanimity, in the Chamber and in the Senate, was forced unanimity”, he observed.
For Luiz Marinho, the Brazilian economy “has been mature for a long time” to support a reduction in the maximum weekly working hours.
“It is fully possible to reduce the maximum working hours to 40 hours per week and seek a space to eliminate the [escala] 6×1, which is the great flag, especially for our youth”, he insisted.
The minister highlighted the fact that collective negotiations between unions and companies can enable a mechanism so that no economic activity that has to work seven days a week, for example, is harmed by the end of the shift with just one day of rest.
“There is no law that will frame a working schedule allowing an entity, a factory, a health activity, any activity, to work 24 hours a day. Both sides of the table, workers and employers, sit down and will surely work in the most serene way possible. Therefore, election year I do not see it as an impediment to progress in this debate”, pondered Marinho. For him, however, it is essential that there is no electoral flu-flu on the subject and that one takes into account how beneficial these measures could be for companies, workers, the economy and the work environment.
Discussions in Congress
At the moment, different bills are being processed simultaneously, both in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate, on reducing working hours and ending the 6×1 scale. Earlier this month, in the Chamber, the special subcommittee which analyzes a Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) approved the gradual reduction of the maximum working hours from 44 to 40 hours per week, but rejected the end of the 6×1 scale.
Already in the Senatethe Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ) went further and approved, also at the beginning of December, the end of the scale of six working days for one day of rest (6×1) and the reduction of the working day from the current 44 hours to 36 hours per week. Both changes are without salary reduction. The topic will go to the Senate plenary next year.
