The Weekend Without a Pay Cut
Brazil's Senate voted 75 to 1 to cut the working week from 44 hours to 40, without cutting wages.
Brazil's Senate voted 75 to 1 to end the six-day week.
On the night of 14 October, Brazil's Senate voted 75 to 1 for a constitutional amendment that cuts the legal working week from 44 hours to 40 and ends the schedule known as 6x1 — six days on, one day off — that retail and service workers have lived with for decades. Wages do not fall. Workers get two paid days off, one of them preferably a Sunday. The daily cap stays at eight hours.
It is the biggest rewrite of workers' rights since the 1988 constitution, the one that marked the return to democracy. The Chamber of Deputies had already passed the text in May. The rapporteur, Omar Aziz, rejected every amendment and sent the deputies' wording through unchanged. It needed 49 votes of 81 senators. It got 75, in both rounds.
The only no vote was Hamilton Mourão, who served as vice president under Jair Bolsonaro. Lula's runoff opponent, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, had opposed the measure for months and voted yes. A nationwide poll had found almost 70% of Brazilians in favour. The government estimates more than 37 million formal-sector workers are covered.
It does not happen on Monday. Sixty days after the amendment is published, the cap drops to 42 hours. Twelve months after that, it drops to 40. About 14 months from gazette to full effect. Existing contracts are covered, not just new ones.
The cold open is the chamber, not the percentage. Senators chanting. A man who had opposed it voting for it. Then the numbers.
Key Facts
- Senate vote: 75 to 1, both rounds, 14 October 2026. Threshold was 49 of 81.
- Working week: 44 hours down to 40. Daily maximum stays at 8.
- No wage cut. Two paid days off, one preferably a Sunday. Ends the 6x1 roster.
- Phase-in: 42 hours, 60 days after publication; 40 hours, 12 months after that.
- Coverage estimate: more than 37 million formal-sector workers.
- Polling: almost 70% of Brazilians in favour, one nationwide survey.
- Sole vote against: Hamilton Mourão (Republicanos-RS). Flávio Bolsonaro voted in favour.
- Deputies passed the same text in May. Rapporteur Omar Aziz (PSD-AM) rejected all amendments.
Why This Matters
A weekend, without a pay cut, written into the constitution, for tens of millions of people, passed by a Senate that included the opposition. Most labour bills die in the detail or arrive with a smaller envelope. This one does the thing workers actually asked for: stop making retail staff work six days. The 75 to 1 is the tell. When the opponent's challenger votes yes, the argument is over and the implementation argument begins.
What We Don't Know Yet
Informal workers are outside it, and Brazil's informal sector is large. The phase-in means no roster changes this month. Enforcement in retail, where 6x1 was simply how the job worked, will decide whether this is a right or a sentence in the constitution. It also passed 11 days before a presidential runoff. That timing is part of why it passed now. Saying so is not a caveat about the vote. The vote was 75 to 1 either way.