Brazil’s Lower House Sets Up Special Panel on Ending 6x1 Workweek

Overview

• Hugo Motta, who leads the Chamber of Deputies, created a 37-member special committee on Friday to examine the constitutional amendment that would end the six-days-on, one-day-off schedule, with up to 40 sessions to deliver a report.
• Following Wednesday’s unanimous CCJ ruling that the proposals are admissible, the debate now turns to the substance, including the target weekly limit, transition timing, and ways to cushion costs for employers.
• Motta plans to install the panel and choose a rapporteur this week, with Paulo Azi and Paulinho da Força floated for the role and major labor centrals urging Paulinho’s selection in a letter.
• Competing texts will shape the outcome as Chamber PECs seek a 36-hour cap without pay cuts while a Lula-backed urgent bill proposes 40 hours with a five-days-on, two-days-off week that must be taken up within 45 days.
• Industry groups such as CNI and Abrasel warn the shift could raise labor costs, lift consumer prices, and shrink formal hiring, which is steering talks toward possible compensations like payroll tax relief.