Brazil Senate Limits Bosses’ Claim on Workers’ Time

Brazil’s Senate approved a constitutional amendment cutting the maximum workweek from 44 hours to 40, with no salary reduction. The measure passed in two rounds, each by 75 votes to 1 among the Senate’s 81 members. Employers now face a new limit on the time they can claim from workers.

“We needed the people out on the streets,” said Lunna Normande, 23, at a protest in Rio de Janeiro. “We will continue to be on the streets until this inhumane work week ends.” Hundreds gathered in Rio, while people in Sao Paulo also celebrated the Senate vote. The demonstrations brought workers’ demands into public view as senators decided the measure’s fate.

A limit, with a boundary

The amendment sets a 40-hour weekly limit and guarantees two rest days without a pay cut. The government says more than 37 million workers could benefit. Businesses have 14 months to adopt the shorter workweek. That deadline had held up negotiations, as business leaders and lawmakers pressed for a gradual change over 10 years.

The law won’t reach everyone who works. Freelancers and delivery drivers in the shadow economy won’t be affected. Those workers remain outside the protection the legislation creates for covered employees.

The Senate’s vote was nearly unanimous. Former Vice President Hamilton Mourao, who served under President Jair Bolsonaro, cast the sole opposing vote. Flávio Bolsonaro, who had opposed the initiative until early that week, voted for it remotely while campaigning in southern Brazil.

The election enters the chamber

The vote fell between the first and second rounds of the election. Davi Alcolumbre, president of Brazil’s Senate, openly discussed the timing with a leading senator of Lula’s Workers’ Party. “Didn't I say this was going to work?” Alcolumbre said after the result. He scheduled the decision between the rounds, a move that benefits the incumbent.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva backed the amendment and was expected to sign it into law the following week. He hopes it will strengthen his standing against Flávio Bolsonaro in the Oct. 25 presidential runoff. After the vote, many senators chanted Lula’s name, while Bolsonaro supporters quickly left the chamber.

Analysts and politicians said Flávio Bolsonaro’s Senate allies stopped blocking the popular measure so it wouldn’t hurt his neck-and-neck race against Lula. Recent polls showed widespread support, despite opposition from many business owners. Many Bolsonaro allies said the new schedule would raise the cost of living.

Lula’s government had worked on the proposal since last year. The shorter week joined other measures intended to shore up support before the runoff: fuel tax cuts, an extension of existing subsidies, a pledge to pardon debts owed to the federal government by more than 3.6 million small businesses, a decision to block cellphone signals around prisons, and increased welfare payments for university students.

A promise that can be revisited

Bolsonaro reversed his longstanding opposition on Tuesday. He had advocated a more flexible payment-by-the-hour regime and individual negotiations between employees and employers, and had repeatedly called the legislation election-motivated. After announcing his support, he told business owners the new Congress could review the measure, local newspaper O Globo reported. His party could reach a simple majority with allied parties come February.

“Today is a day to celebrate a historic achievement for millions of workers,” Lula said. He said the change meant more time to rest, be with family, care for oneself, and enjoy life. Carla Beni, an economist at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, said, “Any change made in an election year can be considered an electoral measure.” The vote sets a concrete limit on work hours, while the campaign around it—and the possibility of a future congressional review—keeps that limit inside the same political machinery workers had to pressure from the streets.