Brazil's lower house has approved a constitutional amendment establishing a 40-hour, five-day workweek, a move critics warn could lead to job losses for the nation's workers if businesses cease hiring. The amendment, passed Wednesday, ends the six-day workweek for at least 37 million people without reducing pay and now moves to the upper house.
Opposition lawmaker Kim Kataguiri stated, "I don’t care this is an election year. I think we need to be responsible. This will be a problem for many companies. We are doing this in a rush and workers should know they might end up worse than they are now if business leaders stop hiring." This warning highlights the potential economic displacement facing the native working class.
The Regional Agenda
This policy is part of a broader push within the Latin American region, lauded by specific labor rights groups but heavily criticized by the business sector. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sponsored the move and has repeatedly promoted it ahead of presidential elections in October, framing it as a measure for "workers and families in Brazil."
Currently, Brazilians work five eight-hour days and four hours on a sixth day, totaling 44 hours. The new amendment guarantees two consecutive 24-hour rest days each week, preferably Saturdays and Sundays. Paulo Pimenta, Brazil’s government whip in the lower house, asserted that "People who have this workweek from Monday to Saturday are the ones that have to work the hardest and are paid the least. We need to be brave and do justice."
Other Latin American nations have recently moved to shorten their workweeks, indicating a coordinated transnational agenda. In February, Mexican lawmakers approved a proposal by President Claudia Sheinbaum to trim the 48-hour workweek, with hours to be gradually shortened to 40 by 2030. Chile, in 2023, passed the so-called 40-Hour Law, which reduced its workweek to 40 hours as of last year, applying to all workers under Chile’s Labor Code without reducing pay.
Costs to the Nation
The amendment gives businesses a mere 14 months to adapt to the new regulations. This timeline was a key point in negotiations, with many business leaders and lawmakers advocating for a more gradual implementation over 10 years, a request that was ultimately disregarded. The rushed implementation raises concerns about the stability of national employment.
Leo Prates, who drafted the amendment in the lower house, stated that the policy "was built with a lot of responsibility, thinking about workers and families in Brazil." However, the warnings from the business sector about potential job losses suggest a disconnect between the stated intentions and the likely economic consequences for the national workforce.
Elite Interests and Resistance
Brazil’s Senate has not yet set a date for its vote on the amendment and retains the power to make changes before President Lula’s final approval is required for the constitution to be amended. This provides a narrow window for national interests to potentially assert themselves against the regional trend.
President Lula’s main rival in the upcoming election, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, has proposed replacing the current workweek system with a more flexible payment-by-the-hour strategy. This alternative approach, while currently popular only among some business leaders, represents a different vision for the national labor market, contrasting with the rigid framework being imposed.
Notably, Argentina has bucked this regional trend under libertarian President Javier Milei. Earlier this year, a labor overhaul package passed in Argentina extended the maximum workday from eight to 12 hours and scrapped overtime pay, among other measures. Argentine labor unions have criticized these changes, claiming they favor companies over employees, yet this move stands in stark contrast to the regional push for shorter workweeks, demonstrating a national choice to prioritize economic flexibility over a standardized transnational labor model.