The chair of the Senate's Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ), Otto Alencar of the PSD party, granted opposition senators a one-hour review on Wednesday (Sept. 2) of the report on a proposed constitutional amendment to end Brazil's "6x1" work schedule. Opposition senators to President Lula's government had asked for more time, and Alencar met the request only in part. The review window closes at 2:47 p.m., delaying the committee vote.
Rapporteur Omar Aziz (PSD-AM) read his report at the start of the session. According to news outlet G1, Alencar granted committee members just one hour to study the text, after which the CCJ may begin voting.
What the amendment does
The proposal cuts the legal workweek from 44 to 40 hours within 14 months and keeps the 8-hour daily cap. Workers would get two weekly rest days with no pay cut, preferably including Sunday. The 6x1 schedule, six workdays followed by a single day off, common in Brazilian retail and services, would be banned 60 days after the amendment takes effect.
The transition has two steps: after two months, the workweek drops to 42 hours with two rest days; after one year, it reaches 40 hours. Aziz left unchanged the text approved by the Chamber of Deputies and rejected 36 opposition amendments that sought to keep the current schedule, according to state news agency Agência Brasil. The 44-hour week has been in force for 30 years, the rapporteur noted, citing data from the Ipea research institute showing that long workweeks fall hardest on workers with lower income and less schooling.
"The long workweek is not a neutrally distributed phenomenon in the productive structure: it falls disproportionately on workers of lower income and less schooling. Reducing it is, in this exact measure, an act of distributive justice, and not only of labor policy," Aziz wrote in the report.
What happens next
The amendment, filed as PEC 221/2019, was approved by the Chamber in May, CNN Brasil reported. It had been stalled in the Senate by chamber president Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP), who put it back on the committee agenda after recent rapprochement with Lula, according to G1. Aziz filed his favorable report on August 27, news site Poder360 reported.
Once the review window closes, the CCJ can vote. If the report passes, the amendment moves to the Senate floor for two rounds of voting. Government floor leader Randolfe Rodrigues (PT-AP) is negotiating a waiver of the waiting period between rounds so both votes can happen the same day, CNN Brasil reported. Because the text carries no change in substance, the amendment can be promulgated without returning to the Chamber if the Senate passes it as is.