Brazil ends the 6x1 schedule: the Amendment 141 timeline for HR

On October 16, 2026, Brazil's National Congress promulgated Constitutional Amendment 141, which ends the 6x1 schedule — six days of work for one day off — guarantees two paid weekly rest days and cuts the maximum workweek from 44 to 40 hours with no pay cut. The amendment was published the same day in a special edition of the DOU (Diário Oficial da União, Brazil's official gazette), and the transition deadlines run from that date. Two days earlier, the Senate had passed PEC 221/2019, the proposed constitutional amendment (PEC, Proposta de Emenda à Constituição) behind it, in two rounds, by 75 votes to 1 in each.

The first stage, with 42 hours and two days off, arrives in December 2026; the 40-hour week, one year later. The rules are explained in detail in End of Brazil's 6x1 schedule: what the Senate amendment means for HR, written before the vote. This article focuses on the timeline and on what to do now.

This article reflects the published amendment and the official information available on its publication date.

From approval to promulgation

The amendment stems from the text approved by the Chamber of Deputies in May, which merged PEC 221/2019 and PEC 8/2025. After the two votes on the Senate floor on October 14, the proposal went to promulgation, held at a solemn session of Congress.

According to a Ministry of Labor and Employment survey cited by Agência Senado, the Senate's news agency, about 14.9 million workers, one third of the 44.7 million with identified working hours, currently work the 6x1 schedule.

The transition timeline

The amendment has been in force since publication, but the changes to working hours have their own deadlines:

When	What happens	Basis in the amendment
Oct 14, 2026	Senate passes the PEC in two rounds, 75–1 in each	—
Oct 16, 2026	Promulgation and publication in the DOU; the amendment takes effect, except for the two-rest-day rule	Art. 10
December 2026 (2 months after publication)	42-hour cap, two weekly rest days and end of incompatible collective agreement clauses	Arts. 3, 6(I) and 10(I)
December 2026 to December 2027	Collective agreements may extend daily hours to spread the 42 hours	Art. 7
October 2027 (1 year after publication)	Deadline to amend public contracts involving labor; without an amendment, the cut in hours applies	Art. 9
December 2027 (1 year after the first stage)	40-hour weekly cap	Art. 6(II)

The text does not set a calendar day: it says two months after publication, not 60 days, as some coverage reported. On October 19, Rádio Senado, the Senate's radio service, reported that the 42-hour cap applies from December 15; other outlets point to December 16. Use the earlier date as your target and confirm the count with your legal team.

What changes in schedules

In the first stage, normal working hours are capped at 42 a week, and each employee gets two paid rest days a week, one of them preferably on Sunday, under the new wording of Article 7 of Brazil's Constitution.

• 6x1 (7 h 20 min a day): no longer works as a fixed schedule. Six-day weeks are only allowed, as an exception, under a compensation regime set in a collective agreement (a convenção or acordo coletivo, negotiated with unions), with an average of two rest days a week within the calendar month and at least one of them within a period of no more than one work week.
• 44-hour 5x2 (8 h 48 min a day): at 42 hours, that is 8 h 24 min a day, and a collective agreement may extend daily hours in this phase, as long as the two days off are kept. At 40 hours, it is 8 hours a day.
• 12x36 (12 hours on, 36 off): the amendment does not mention this schedule, but it allows compensation regimes by collective agreement even for workers under differentiated working regimes established by law or regulation. The average is 42 hours a week without deducting breaks, the same as the first-stage cap, and 38 h 30 min with a one-hour break actually taken. The squeeze comes in the 40-hour stage.
• Schedules of up to 40 hours: no proportional cut, but these workers gain the second day off.

Coverage feels the impact right away: a post that runs Monday to Saturday with one worker on 6x1 will need someone else on one of those days, because the regular worker will have two days off. For every five posts like this, you need one more relief worker (folguista), working five days a week.

There are also two special rules. Employees with a university degree who earn at least two and a half times the ceiling of the RGPS (Brazil's general social security regime) are exempt from the rules on the duration and control of working time, unless the employer or a collective agreement provides otherwise, but they keep the two days off. And a complementary law may set transition measures for MEIs (individual microentrepreneurs), microenterprises and small businesses, conditioned on maintaining employment levels.

Hourly rate, overtime and the hour bank

Monthly pay does not change: the shorter hours and the second day off apply to existing contracts with no nominal, proportional or any other kind of pay cut, including for wage floors. With fewer hours for the same pay, each hour costs more.

The TST (Brazil's Superior Labor Court) already applies a divisor of 200 to 40-hour weeks under Súmula 431, one of its consolidated precedents. By the same logic, the 220 divisor used to turn a monthly salary into an hourly rate is likely to fall to 210 in the 42-hour stage and to 200 in the 40-hour stage. On a monthly salary of R$2,200.00, the hourly rate goes from R$10.00 to R$10.48 and then R$11.00; an overtime hour at a 50% premium, from R$15.00 to R$15.71 and R$16.50.

In the first stage, the 43rd and 44th hours of the week are no longer normal hours and, if worked, become overtime or go to the hour bank (banco de horas, Brazil's time-off-in-lieu system), depending on the agreement in place. The amendment does not address the hour bank, but the baseline changes: set a cutoff date, check balances before December and update the rules in your time-tracking system, whose records follow Portaria 671, Brazil's time-tracking regulation. In TIRVU+, schedules, days off, coverage and the hour bank sit in the same system as time tracking, with dashboards showing overtime and costs per contract.

Client contracts

Public contracts

Article 9 covers contracts of the direct and indirect public administration, at every level of government, in force on October 16 and involving direct employment of labor, including concessions, permits and public-private partnerships. In these contracts, the cut in hours depends on a contract amendment (aditamento) to maintain the contract's economic and financial balance, with a deadline of one year from publication. Without an amendment, the new hours apply when that period ends, with no pay cut; contracts amended within the first two months follow the general timeline.

The article ties only the cut in hours to the amendment, not the second day off. Check with your legal team how to handle each contract, and give the contracting agency a cost breakdown per post, with hours, relief workers, coverage and the new hourly rate.

Private contracts

The amendment does not address contracts between companies: what each contract says about price adjustment, renegotiation and rebalancing applies. Use the same cost breakdown and start the conversation with each client before December.

What to tell your team

• Until the first stage, in December 2026, current schedules remain in place.
• Pay cannot be reduced because of the new hours, including for those earning the wage floor.
• There will be two paid rest days a week, one preferably on Sunday.
• The maximum workweek drops to 42 hours in December 2026 and to 40 hours in December 2027; in public contracts, the cut may depend on the contract amendment.
• Hours beyond the new limit are overtime or go to the hour bank.

Do not promise a specific day before the schedules are agreed with your legal team and the union. Through the TIRVU+ employee portal, notices and documents reach employees directly in the app.

What to do now

• List who is on 6x1, 44-hour 5x2, 12x36 and other schedules, by post and contract
• Redesign schedules for 42 hours and two days off, including relief workers and coverage
• Negotiate daily hours for the 42-hour phase with the union and review the clauses that lose effect
• Recalculate hourly rates, overtime, the night-shift premium and the hour bank, with a cutoff date for balances
• Update working hours, days off and overtime rules in your time-tracking system
• Request amendments to public contracts and review private contract prices
• Share the new schedules with teams in writing and in advance
• Plan the 40-hour stage, due in December 2027

Frequently asked questions

When does the 6x1 schedule end?

Two months after the amendment was published on October 16, 2026, that is, in December. Rádio Senado cites December 15; since the text counts the period in months, confirm the date with your legal team.

Can a company cut pay along with hours?

No. The amendment bans any pay cut, nominal or proportional, in existing contracts, including for wage floors.

Do outsourced workers on public contracts follow the same timeline?

Not always for the cut in hours: it depends on a contract amendment, with a deadline of one year from publication, and applies when that period ends even without one. The text does not tie the second day off to the amendment.

Conclusion

With Amendment 141 published, the end of the 6x1 schedule has deadlines: December 2026 for the 42-hour cap and two days off, and December 2027 for the 40-hour week. Until the first stage, the work is to redesign schedules, recalculate costs and negotiate with unions and clients. For each rule in detail, see End of Brazil's 6x1 schedule: what the Senate amendment means for HR.

Need to redesign schedules, days off and the hour bank before December? Talk to the Tirvu team and see TIRVU+ working in your own operation, with schedules, the hour bank and time tracking in one system.

Sources

• Federal Senate: text and publication of Constitutional Amendment 141/2026 (Oct 16, 2026)
• Agência Senado: Congress promulgates the end of the 6x1 schedule (Oct 16, 2026)
• Agência Câmara: amendment promulgated with a 40-hour cap (Oct 16, 2026)
• Agência Brasil: 5x2 schedule and transition deadlines (Oct 16, 2026)
• Agência Senado: Senate approval in two rounds (Oct 14, 2026)
• Rádio Senado: 42-hour cap from December 15 (Oct 19, 2026)

This content is for informational purposes only and does not replace specialized legal advice.