Senate CCJ approves PEC that reduces weekly working hours and eliminates 6×1 regime

The Senate Constitution and Justice Committee approved, this Wednesday (10), the PEC that provides for structural changes in the organization of working hours in the country. The text, presented by senator Paulo Paim (PT-RS) and other parliamentarians, was included at the last minute on the agenda by the president of the CCJ, Otto Alencar (PSD-BA), and will now be analyzed by the plenary.

The proposal modifies article 7 of the Constitution to establish a ceiling of 36 hours of work per week, maintaining the daily limit of 8 hours. According to the new wording, the load must be distributed over up to five days, which, in practice, eliminates the 6×1 regime and guarantees two days of rest per week, preferably Saturday and Sunday.

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The proposal will now be sent for presidential approval. The measure had already been approved by the Senate with 71 votes in favor and none against in early September

The PEC also determines that the transition cannot imply a salary reduction and maintains the possibility of collective agreements for working hours adjustments.

The approved report argues that the traditional schedule of six days on and one day off causes physical exhaustion, increases the risk of accidents and compromises quality of life. Reducing working hours is described as a preventive measure, supported by recommendations from occupational health experts and practices adopted in other countries.

Implementation, however, will be gradual. If the proposal is enacted, the weekly limit will initially drop to 40 hours in the year following its approval. From then on, there will be a reduction of one hour per year until reaching the 36 hours foreseen in the PEC. For the rapporteur, this scheduling reduces the impact on companies and facilitates the reorganization of shifts and teams.

The opinion mentions previous experiences, such as the reduction from 48 to 44 hours in 1988, stating that changes of this nature did not cause an increase in unemployment and had positive effects on income per hour worked. It also points to Brazil’s approach to countries that adopt shorter working hours, such as Europe, as well as Latin American neighbors that have recently revised their models.

The vote takes place in parallel with the processing of PEC 8/2025, discussed in the Chamber, which also deals with the reconfiguration of the journey, but with a different design, including the possibility of schemes such as 4×3.