End of Brazil's 6x1 schedule: what the Senate amendment means for HR

On October 6, 2026, Brazil's Senate began floor debate on PEC 221/2019, a proposed constitutional amendment (PEC, Proposta de Emenda à Constituição) that ends the 6x1 schedule — six days of work for one day off — cuts the maximum workweek from 44 to 40 hours and guarantees two paid rest days with no pay cut. The text was approved by the Chamber of Deputies in May and by the Senate's Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) in September. By October 8, three of the five discussion sessions required before the first-round vote had been held, and the vote was expected the following week.

This article reflects the status of the proposal on its publication date, and the schedule may change.

What the amendment changes

According to Agência Senado, the Senate's news agency, the CCJ approved, on the report of rapporteur Senator Omar Aziz (PSD-AM), the same text passed by the Chamber, where a substitute merged PEC 221/2019 and PEC 8/2025. The key points:

• Working hours: up to 40 hours a week and 8 hours a day, with compensation and reduction of hours allowed through collective bargaining.
• Rest: two paid weekly rest days, one of them preferably on Sunday.
• Pay: the new hours apply to existing contracts with no nominal or proportional pay cut, including for wage floors.
• Transition: 42 hours two months after the amendment is published and 40 hours one year and two months after publication. During the 42-hour phase, collective bargaining may extend daily hours, as long as the two rest days are kept.
• Compensation: collective agreements may rearrange days off, provided the monthly average guarantees two rest days per week and at least one day off every seven days. Incompatible clauses lose effect two months after publication.

There are also special rules. Employees with a university degree earning at least 2.5 times the ceiling of the RGPS (Brazil's general social security regime), about R$21,200 in 2026, 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 rest days. According to Agência Senado, the new working-time rules also do not apply to public servants. A complementary law may set transition rules for MEIs (individual microentrepreneurs) and small businesses, conditioned on maintaining jobs.

In public-administration contracts with outsourced labor, the cut in hours depends on a contract amendment, to be signed within one year; without it, the cut takes effect when that period ends. The second rest day does not depend on any amendment and applies two months after publication.

Where the vote stands

Date	Step
May 27, 2026	Chamber approves it in two rounds: 472–22 and 461–19
Sep 2, 2026	Senate CCJ approves the report and rejects 36 amendments
Oct 6–8, 2026	First three discussion sessions on the Senate floor
Week of Oct 13 (expected)	Last two sessions and first-round vote
After the first round	Three more sessions and second-round vote
Publication + 2 months	42 hours, two days off and incompatible clauses void
Publication + 14 months	40-hour week

Approval requires 49 of the 81 senators in each round. If the Senate makes no changes, the amendment is promulgated by the governing boards of both houses; any change would send it back to the Chamber. Agência Brasil, the public news agency, mentioned October 15 as a possible date for the first round, but some senators are asking for more debate time, and the calendar overlaps with the final stretch of Brazil's elections, whose runoff is on October 25.

For example, if the amendment were published on November 1, 2026, the 42-hour limit would apply from January 1, 2027, and the 40-hour limit from January 1, 2028.

Who is affected and what changes in common schedules

According to the rapporteur's estimate, more than 37 million workers would benefit, more than 57% of them women. The change reaches employees under the CLT (Brazil's Consolidated Labor Laws) who work more than 40 hours or have a single day off per week, which is common in continuous operations such as security, cleaning, reception and facilities.

Schedule	Today	With the PEC
6x1 (7 h 20 min a day)	44 hours, one day off	No longer works as a fixed schedule
5x2 (8 h 48 min a day)	44 hours	8 h 24 min a day at 42 hours (via collective bargaining) and 8 hours at 40
12x36 (12 hours on, 36 off)	Average of 42 hours	Not banned, but its average is measured against 40 hours
4x2 (8 hours a day)	Average of about 37 h 20 min	Likely to fit the new limits

12x36 is the typical schedule for 24-hour posts. According to Agência Câmara, the Chamber's news agency, it is among the cases in which collective agreements may set a compensation regime. The math changes, though: with 12 hours of work every 48, the average is 42 hours a week; with a one-hour break actually taken, it drops to about 38.5 hours. Model both scenarios and keep track of union talks.

Practical impact for HR and payroll

Hourly rate and overtime

The divisor used to turn a monthly salary into an hourly rate is likely to fall from 220 to 200, which is what the TST (Brazil's Superior Labor Court) already applies to 40-hour weeks under Súmula 431, one of its consolidated precedents. In the 42-hour phase, the same formula (weekly hours × 5) gives 210. For a monthly salary of R$2,200.00:

Workweek	Divisor	Hourly rate	Overtime hour (50%)
44 hours	220	R$10.00	R$15.00
42 hours	210	R$10.48	R$15.71
40 hours	200	R$11.00	R$16.50

The monthly salary stays the same, but each hour costs 10% more at the end of the transition, which affects overtime, the night-shift premium and the hour bank (banco de horas, Brazil's time-off-in-lieu system).

Coverage, hour bank and contracts

A 24-hour post needs 168 hours of coverage a week, which four workers on 12x36 provide today. If each worker's average has to fall to 40 hours, they cover 160 hours, leaving 8 hours a week per post. Across 50 posts, that is 400 hours a week, the equivalent of ten 40-hour workers, whether through relief staff, overtime or rotation.

Also review hour-bank balances and the clauses of the collective bargaining agreement on hours, days off and 12x36. For public contracts, prepare amendment requests with a calculation of the new cost; for private contracts, what each one says about price adjustment and rebalancing applies.

With schedules, the hour bank and time tracking centralized in a system such as TIRVU+, HR can see how many hours, days off and relief shifts each post uses today, the starting point for these simulations. Time records follow the rules of Portaria 671, Brazil's time-tracking regulation.

What employees need to know

• Nothing changes before promulgation and the transition deadlines; until then, current rules apply.
• Pay cannot be reduced because of the new hours, not even proportionally, including for workers earning the wage floor.
• There will be two paid days off a week, one preferably on Sunday, and at least one every seven days.
• Those who already work 40 hours or less keep their hours but become entitled to the second day off.
• Hours beyond the new limit are still overtime or go to the hour bank, under the CLT and the collective agreement.

What to do now

• List employees on 6x1, 44-hour 5x2, 12x36 and other schedules, by post and contract
• Model each post at 44, 42 and 40 hours, including relief staff and coverage
• Recalculate hourly rates, overtime and the hour bank with divisors 210 and 200
• Map the collective agreement clauses on hours and days off
• Prepare amendments to public contracts and review private contract prices
• Plan communication with teams without promising dates before promulgation
• Follow the Senate votes

Frequently asked questions

Is the 40-hour week already in force?

No. The PEC still needs two Senate votes, with 49 votes in each, and promulgation. After that, the 42-hour limit applies in two months and the 40-hour limit in 14 months.

Can a company cut pay along with hours?

No, under the text approved so far. The shorter hours and the second day off apply to existing contracts with no nominal or proportional pay cut.

Will the 12x36 schedule end?

The text does not ban it. It may continue under collective bargaining or a specific law, but its weekly average will be measured against the 40-hour limit.

Conclusion

The end of the 6x1 schedule still depends on the Senate, but the text is settled and the transition is short: two months to reach 42 hours and two days off. For companies with continuous posts, the impact shows up in hourly rates, schedule coverage, the hour bank and client contracts. Another topic that affects contracts and costs is pejotização at Brazil's Supreme Court.

Want to map your operation's schedules, days off and hour bank before the change? Talk to the Tirvu team and see TIRVU+ working in your own operation.

Sources

• Agência Senado: third discussion session on the Senate floor (Oct 8, 2026)
• Federal Senate: PEC 221/2019 legislative tracker
• Agência Senado: approval by the CCJ (Sep 2, 2026)
• Agência Câmara: approval in two rounds (May 27, 2026)
• Agência Brasil: Senate session calendar (Oct 6, 2026)

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