Flávio Bolsonaro said Tuesday he would vote to end Brazil’s 6×1 workweek, which gives workers six working days for each day off. “A maioria dos trabalhadores brasileiros quer o fim da escala 6×1,” he said, meaning most Brazilian workers want the schedule to end. Then he added, “Então, eu vou votar a favor do fim da 6×1,” saying he would vote to end it, Brasil de Fato reported.
The shift came a day before an expected Senate vote and 12 days before the presidential runoff between Bolsonaro and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The proposal would end the six-day schedule as the legal norm. Many retail, service and factory employees work that way.
A workweek set from above
Brazil’s Constitution caps the normal workweek at 44 hours and the workday at eight hours. The amendment would change the legal framework employers use to schedule workers; it needs at least 49 of the 81 senators in each of two voting rounds to pass.
Senate President Davi Alcolumbre set the first round for Wednesday, 14 October, according to Poder360 and O Liberal, though Brasil de Fato said it might happen Wednesday or Thursday. A second round would follow. Bolsonaro, a sitting senator for Rio de Janeiro and candidate of the Liberal Party (PL), Brazil’s main conservative party, was expected to cast his own vote.
His position reversed his earlier public argument. He had called the proposal opportunistic and said workers should negotiate their own hours with employers. At a press conference in Brasília on Tuesday, 6 October, he promised an “infinitely better” alternative to the Senate text and said, “whoever wants to work more will work more,” Estadão Conteúdo reported through the Belém daily O Liberal.
On Tuesday, Bolsonaro also said, “só que a gente defende algo ainda melhor,” meaning his camp supports something even better. Brasil de Fato reported that he didn’t explain what that alternative would be. Poder360 reported that he considered the amendment poorly drafted and harmful to the economy, but had concluded he couldn’t vote against it.
Campaign promises, Senate arithmetic
Lula challenged Bolsonaro on Wednesday, 7 October, saying he wanted to see how he would vote, Poder360 reported. O Liberal reported that Lula pressed him again on Monday and predicted most senators would support the change. The candidates made their statements as senators—not workers covered by the schedule—held the amendment’s fate in their hands.
Bolsonaro’s support doesn’t guarantee passage. The amendment still needs 49 votes in each of two rounds, and it wasn’t clear whether the Liberal Party would direct its senators to follow him. The new weekly-hour limit in the final text couldn’t be checked against the official Senate record.
Workers’ hours, corporate calculations
The report said U.S. companies employing people in Brazil—including retailers, manufacturers and call centres—could face new scheduling rules if the amendment passes. Firms with large hourly workforces might need more staff or overtime. Investors in New York-listed Brazilian shares such as Petrobras, Vale and Itaú Unibanco watch labour costs and the fiscal outlook.
The runoff was set for Sunday, 25 October, with the winner due to take office in January 2027. The report also linked the contest to relations with Washington: it said the United States imposed tariffs of up to 50% on Brazilian goods in 2025, Flávio Bolsonaro’s family is allied with President Donald Trump, and Lula has pressed Washington to lift the tariffs.
Bolsonaro’s vote could help end a schedule many workers live under, but he hasn’t named the supposedly better alternative. The Senate still holds the decision, while employers and investors weigh what a changed workweek could mean for their operations and costs.