Brazil Senate approves 40-hour workweek amendment

Brazil’s Senate approved a constitutional amendment on Wednesday to reduce the maximum workweek from 44 hours to 40 without cutting pay, a major labor-policy victory for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ahead of the October 25 presidential runoff. The measure passed 75-1. The lower house had approved the same text in May, so the amendment now goes to Congress for formal promulgation and does not require presidential approval. The vote followed two required Senate rounds. The amendment provides for a phased change. Sixty days after promulgation, the weekly limit will fall to 42 hours and workers will become entitled to two paid rest days. Twelve months after that initial phase, the limit will drop to 40 hours. The full transition therefore spans about 14 months from promulgation, though Congress has not announced when it will formally enact the amendment. The reform replaces the current 44-hour ceiling and is intended to end the common six-days-on, one-day-off schedule, known in Brazil as 6x1. The government estimates that more than 37 million formal-sector workers could benefit.