The agreement between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and Senate President Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP) has unblocked the constitutional amendment (PEC, in the Portuguese acronym) that ends Brazil's 6x1 work schedule, in which employees work six days for every one day off. But the deal limits progress to the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ). The full Senate floor vote has no date and, in practice, is expected only after the October 2026 elections.
The rapporteur, Senator Omar Aziz (PSD-AM), delivered a favorable report to the CCJ on Thursday (27), keeping the text already approved by the Chamber of Deputies in May, according to G1. Aziz rejected all 12 amendments filed, including three by Senator Izalci Lucas (PL-DF) that sought to keep the current 44-hour workweek. The CCJ is set to vote the proposal next Wednesday (2), a date confirmed by Folha de S.Paulo.
The breakthrough followed a meeting between Lula, Alcolumbre and Chamber Speaker Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB) on Wednesday night (26) at the Alvorada Palace. Alcolumbre, however, did not commit to bringing the PEC to the floor next week, G1 reported. According to Folha, Congress has only one more working week, from August 31 to September 4, before the October vote.
How the amendment moves through the Senate
A PEC must clear the CCJ and then pass two rounds of voting on the Senate floor, with five business days between them. Lula's allies are pressing for the floor vote on the same day as the committee decision and argue, according to G1, that procedural deadlines have been waived before, with both rounds held back to back.
The text kept by Aziz sets a 40-hour workweek, down from 44, with two weekly rest days and no pay cut, preferably including Sunday. The transition foresees 42 hours within two months and 40 hours within one year. In his report, Aziz cited data from the Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea), a federal think tank, to defend the change:
"The long workday is not neutrally distributed across the productive structure: it falls disproportionately on lower-income and less-educated workers. Reducing it is, in exactly that measure, a matter of distributive justice, and not only of labor policy," Aziz said.
The PL party opposes ending the 6x1 schedule. Senator and presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) co-signed an alternative PEC with party colleagues that would introduce hourly pay with a flexible schedule. That text is stalled in the Senate, according to G1.
The next step is the CCJ vote on Wednesday (2). If Aziz's report stands, the text does not return to the Chamber and can be promulgated by Congress once the Senate floor approves it in two rounds. With no commitment from Alcolumbre to schedule the vote in this final working week, the final decision falls after the elections.