Congress enacts amendment ending the 6x1 schedule; 5x2 scale begins in 60 days

The National Congress promulgated on Friday (16) Constitutional Amendment No. 141 of 2026, which puts an end to the six-day workweek with only one day of rest (6x1) and establishes the 5x2 schedule, with two days off per week, for all workers in Brazil within two months. The new Amendment was promulgated in a solemn session attended by the president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP); the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB); and the President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Ministers of state, senators, and deputies from the government's allied base filled the Senate chamber. Opposition leaders did not attend the session. The president of Congress, Davi Alcolumbre, emphasized that the impacts of the measure "are incalculable." "How much is it worth to have more time to care for oneself and for those one loves? For millions of people who have to work six, sometimes seven days a week, the answer is simple: these things have no price, they have value." Alcolumbre added that it took "a great deal of courage" to tackle an issue that "so many people preferred to put off." "An issue that divides opinions, that affects labor relations and touches the lives of millions of families. When the topic is complex, the most comfortable thing is to set it aside and not face it. But the Brazilian Legislature chose the right path, not the easy path," the president of the Senate added. The president of the Chamber, Hugo Motta, stated that the end of the 6x1 schedule reaches millions of Brazilians who "wake up before dawn, cross entire cities, and dedicate a large part of their days to work." Motta added that the impacts of the change on micro and small businesses will be mitigated by the approval of an increase in the annual revenue limit for MEIs (individual microentrepreneurs) from the current R$ 80,000 to R$ 110,000 in 2027 and R$ 140,000 in 2028. "The text also allows the hiring of up to two employees per microentrepreneur, thus ensuring that the MEI can have one more employee than is currently permitted. After all, strengthening the MEI means strengthening millions of Brazilian families," Motta concluded. After the promulgation, President Lula celebrated the measure and criticized the groups that attacked the proposed amendment claiming it would bankrupt Brazil. "I remember the campaign for the 13th salary, in the early 1960s — it was the same thing: it will bankrupt companies! It will sink companies! There's nothing like this anywhere in the world. It didn't bankrupt companies. The concrete fact is that every time workers win a benefit, they live a little longer, they have a little more pleasure in life," he emphasized. Understanding the new amendment The amendment approved on Wednesday also provides for a gradual reduction of the workweek from the current 44 hours to 40 hours per week, without salary reduction, over a transition period of 14 months. Born out of pressure from the streets and responding to a historic demand of workers and unions, the proposal completed its passage in the Senate last Wednesday (14), with 75 votes in favor against 1, from former vice president and senator Hamilton Mourão (Republicanos-RS). Backed by the government, the vote also received support from the opposition, which had been against the proposed amendment and tried to prevent the vote this week. However, after the session was scheduled, the opposition freed its members to vote, and they voted mostly in favor of ending the 6x1 schedule. The new rule establishes the requirement of two days of rest per week, in addition to reducing the workweek from the current 44 hours to 40 hours per week. All without salary reduction. >> Click here to understand the proposed amendment The text, on the other hand, allows compensating for a Saturday or Sunday worked in the case of categories with special schedules. The number of paid days off, however, must be maintained at two per week, on average, taken mandatorily within the same month. The proposed amendment also allows differentiated schedules for workers with a higher education degree who currently earn equal to or more than R$ 21,188.87, provided the 5x2 schedule is maintained. In these cases, direct negotiation between employer and worker must define the length of the workday. The proposal provides that a subsequent complementary law may establish transitional measures to mitigate the impacts of the reduction of the workweek on individual microentrepreneurs (MEIs), microenterprises, and small businesses. Transition The implementation of the reduction from 44 to 40 hours will have a transition period of up to 14 months. The exception is outsourced workers in the public administration, who will have a differentiated transition rule. For all other workers, companies will have to guarantee the 5x2 schedule within 60 days, counted from today, as well as the reduction of the workweek to 42 hours per week. Twelve months after this first reduction, the workweek drops to 40 hours. In the interval between the second and the 14th month after promulgation, the employer must distribute, throughout the week, the two hours above the normal eight hours of work. If divided equally, the employee will have to work 8 hours and 24 minutes on each of the five days of the week. Once the transition phase is completed, all employees must work a maximum of eight hours per day and 40 hours per week over five days. To work more hours, overtime pay is required. See the transition rules of the proposed amendment that ends the 6x1 schedule: 5-day work schedule with 2 days of rest (after 60 days); reduction of the workweek from 44 hours to 42 hours per week (after 60 days); workweek from 42 hours to 40 hours per week, maintaining the 5x2 schedule (in 14 months). Collective agreements The Constitutional Amendment also exceptionally allows, through a collective bargaining agreement or collective labor agreement, the establishment of a compensatory regime that permits a schedule different from the 5x2. In these cases, workers must be compensated within the same "calendar month," guaranteeing "the enjoyment of at least one of the days within a maximum period of one workweek." In other words, a worker can still work the 6x1 schedule, provided it is established in a collective agreement. In that case, the extra day worked will have to be compensated with a day off within the same month. By the end of that month, the worker must have taken, on average, the equivalent of two paid days off per week. In another paragraph, the Amendment allows a subsequent law to provide for different regimes for working hours and days of rest, provided the limits of 40 hours per week and two paid days of rest per week are respected. State outsourced workers Companies that provide services to the State will have a period of 12 months after the promulgation of the amendment, not 60 days like the others, to end the 6x1 schedule for their employees. The new work schedule will take effect at the time of formalization of the contract amendment between the companies and the Public Power. However, contracts amended after 60 days from the promulgation of the amendment will already have to comply with the new work schedule established by the proposed amendment. Story updated at 10:48 a.m. and 11:15 a.m.