The Briefing:
- Brazil's Senate voted 75 to 1 in two consecutive rounds on October 14 to end the 6x1 workweek, replacing it with a 5x2 model that gives workers two paid rest days per week with no salary cuts.
- Sixty days after formal promulgation, the weekly ceiling drops from 44 to 42 hours; the definitive 40-hour limit takes effect 14 months later — no presidential signature required.
- The vote fell 11 days before the October 25 presidential runoff between President Lula and conservative senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who reversed his opposition to the reform the day before the floor vote.
- Industry groups warn of significant cost pressures: the CNI projects a 6.2% average consumer price increase and up to R$267 billion in added production costs, while the CLP estimates more than 600,000 formal jobs could be at risk.
