The Senate’s Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) approved, this Wednesday (10), the end of the six-day working schedule for one day of rest (6×1) and the reduction of the working day from the current 44 hours to 40 hours per week. Both changes are without salary reduction. Now, the topic goes to the Senate plenary.
The Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) 148 of 2025 was included on the CCJ agenda as an “extra” matter, without prior notice, and approved by symbolic vote. Authored by senator Paulo Paim (PT-RS), the PEC was reported by senator Rogério Carvalho (PT-SE).
The rapporteur explained that the PEC reduces, in the first year after approval of the text, the maximum working hours from 44 to 40 hours per week. During the following four years, there would be a reduction of one hour of work per year, until reaching 36 hours per week.
“There are more than 150 million Brazilians who will benefit from this PEC, considering the workers, considering the families and considering who hires too, because it will move the economy, it will change the social reality of this country”, said Rogério Carvalho.
In his opinion, the CCJ rapporteur argued that the 6×1 shift is associated with an increased risk of accidents due to tiredness, as it reduces the quality of work and causes harm to health, harming the worker’s well-being.
“In Brazil, social networks have been taken over in recent months by demonstrations against the 6×1 working day, considered exhausting by workers. In this sense, the Life Beyond Work Movement was created, with the aim of changing legislation to ensure a balance between work and personal life”, wrote Carvalho in opinion.
Extra agenda
The vote on the PEC as an extra-agenda was criticized by opposition senator Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE), who said he wished he had had the opportunity to request a view to analyze the proposal and make contributions to the text.
“If you do this, on the eve of a recess, taking away the parliamentarian’s right to request a review. I feel violated by this attitude. I know there was a public hearing on the matter, but I needed to have the statutory right to request a review. The only thing I can say is that we will try, there in the Plenary, to see if it is possible to hold a public hearing to improve the project, because everything can be improved”, stated the senator from Ceará.
The president of the CCJ, senator Otto Alencar (PSD-BA), responded that it is not uncommon for matters to be included outside the Commission’s agenda, highlighting that the topic was debated in a public hearing.
“I regret your excellency not having participated in three public hearings that we held and your excellency did not attend any of them. We had a commitment, including with Senator Paulo Paim, to vote [a PEC] later this year”, he replied.
Chamber
The Chamber of Deputies also discuss the topic in the special subcommittee dedicated to analyzing the 6×1 scale. Last week, when presenting the opinion, deputy Luiz Gastão (PSD-CE) rejected the end of the 6×1 scale and proposed reducing the working hours from 44 to 40 hours per week.
The rapporteur in the Chamber claimed that his text was the “possible” solution within the economic reality of Brazilian companies and the high informality of the labor market.
“[A PEC original] could lead to serious adverse economic consequences, such as a drop in production, reduced productivity and increased unemployment rates”, stated Luiz Gastão.
The report read last Wednesday (3) in the Chamber’s subcommittee modified the original text of the PEC authored by deputy Erika Hilton (PSOL-SP), which provided for the end of the 6×1 scale and a 36-hour work week.
