Flávio Bolsonaro said Tuesday he would vote to end Brazil’s 6×1 workweek, a schedule that has millions of Brazilians working six days for every day off. The reversal came a day before an expected Senate vote, with the presidential runoff against President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva set for Sunday, 25 October.
“A maioria dos trabalhadores brasileiros quer o fim da escala 6×1,” he told reporters after visiting his father, according to Brasil de Fato, meaning most Brazilian workers want the schedule to end. “Então, eu vou votar a favor do fim da 6×1,” he added. He also said his camp supports “algo ainda melhor,” something even better. Brasil de Fato reported that he didn’t say what that alternative would be.
A Shift After Months of Resistance
The turnaround is sharp. For months, Bolsonaro called the proposal opportunistic and argued 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.
Poder360, the Brasília political news site, reported Tuesday that Bolsonaro had concluded he couldn’t vote against the amendment. It said he still regards the text as poorly drafted and harmful to the economy. The vote is yes, but the criticism hasn’t gone away.
Lula had pushed him on it. On Wednesday, 7 October, the president said he wanted to see how Bolsonaro would vote, Poder360 reported. O Liberal reported that Lula pressed him again on Monday and predicted most senators would support the change.
What the Amendment Would Do
The proposal is a constitutional amendment, known in Brazil as a PEC, that would end the 6×1 schedule as the legal norm. Many retail, service and factory employees work six days for each day off under that pattern. Brazil’s Constitution caps the normal working week at 44 hours and eight hours a day. The report compared that with the 40-hour weekly threshold for overtime pay under U.S. federal law.
Passage isn’t guaranteed. The amendment needs at least 49 of the 81 senators, or three-fifths, in each of two voting rounds. Senate President Davi Alcolumbre scheduled the first round for Wednesday, 14 October, according to Poder360 and O Liberal, though Brasil de Fato said it might take place Wednesday or Thursday. A second round would follow.
Bolsonaro, a sitting senator for Rio de Janeiro and the Liberal Party (PL) candidate, was expected to cast his own vote. It remained unclear whether the party would direct its senators to follow him. The final text’s new weekly-hour limit couldn’t be checked against the official Senate record.
Business Costs and Market Signals
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 carries international weight too. The report said the United States imposed tariffs of up to 50% on Brazilian goods in 2025, that Flávio Bolsonaro’s family is allied with President Donald Trump, and that Lula has pressed Washington to lift the tariffs.
Prediction markets favour Bolsonaro heavily. On 13 October, Polymarket gave him an 86.4% chance of winning at 12:35 p.m. ET and Lula 12.5%. Kalshi, regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, showed Bolsonaro at 87.0% and Lula at 13.0% at 11:07 a.m. ET. More than US$180 million had traded on Polymarket, though the report described market prices as bets, not polls. Neither platform isolates the effect of one campaign statement.
The winner takes office in January 2027. Bolsonaro hasn’t said what “even better” alternative he favours or whether he would seek changes after the vote.
Why This Matters: The 6×1 schedule shapes daily life for the retail, service and factory workers who make up much of Brazil’s labour force: six days on, one day off, with little time left for family, rest or study. A candidate who spent months calling the proposal opportunistic now says most workers want it gone. That suggests how much public pressure has built behind the change. But one senator’s yes vote isn’t law. The amendment still needs 49 votes in each of two rounds, and Bolsonaro’s unexplained “even better” alternative leaves open whether he’d back the text as written or seek to rework it. Workers’ second day off will depend on the Senate, not campaign promises.