Politics 6 min read By Callum Montgomery
Brazil Senate Votes to Cut Working Week to 40 Hours Without Pay Cut
Brazil's Senate has approved a constitutional amendment reducing the maximum working week from 44 to 40 hours with no salary reduction, a move backed by President Lula ahead of the October 25 runoff against Flavio Bolsonaro.
Brazil's Senate has approved a constitutional amendment to reduce the country's maximum working week from 44 to 40 hours without any reduction in pay, handing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva a significant political victory just days before a tightly contested presidential runoff.
The measure passed in two rounds of voting by an identical margin of 75 to 1, with the sole dissenting vote cast by former Vice President Hamilton Mourão, who served under former President Jair Bolsonaro. The amendment now gives businesses 14 months to adopt the shorter schedule, a compromise reached after many business leaders and lawmakers had pushed for a gradual transition over as long as a decade.
Lula is expected to sign the shorter working week into law next week. His government has been working on the proposal since last year, and the reform is widely regarded as the centrepiece of a series of recent initiatives designed to shore up support before the second round of voting on October 25.
More than 37 million workers could benefit from the new rules, according to government estimates. The amendment establishes a 40-hour weekly limit alongside two rest days, without reducing pay. Workers in the shadow economy, including freelancers and delivery drivers, will not be affected by the legislation.
The president was quick to celebrate the outcome. «Today is a day to celebrate a historic achievement for millions of workers,» Lula said in a statement. «This means having more time to live, rest, be with family, watch your children grow up, take care of yourself, and enjoy life. Those who work so hard to build Brazil also deserve to have time to live.»
Senators chanted Lula's name after the vote, while Bolsonaro supporters quickly left the chamber. Davi Alcolumbre, the president of Brazil's Senate, was heard telling a leading senator of Lula's Workers' Party: «Didn't I say this was going to work?» He timed the decision to fall between the first and second rounds of the election, a move that benefits the incumbent.
Flávio Bolsonaro, who had opposed the initiative until early this week, voted for it remotely while campaigning in southern Brazil. Analysts and politicians say his allies in the Senate stopped blocking the popular measure to avoid damaging his prospects in a neck-and-neck race against Lula. Bolsonaro, who bested Lula by 2.2 million votes in the first round, reversed his long-standing opposition on Tuesday. He had previously advocated for a more flexible payment-by-the-hour regime and individual negotiations between employees and employers, and had repeatedly described the legislation as election-motivated.
Hours after announcing his support, Bolsonaro told business owners that the new Congress, where his party could reach a simple majority with allied parties come February, could review the measure, according to the newspaper O Globo. Many of his allies said in their remarks that they expect the cost of living to rise because of the new schedule.
Recent polls indicated widespread public support for the shorter working week despite the opposition of many business owners. The approval was a theme in dozens of pro-Lula protests held nationwide since last week, with some celebrating the Senate vote in the streets of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. «We needed the people out on the streets,» said Lunna Normande, 23, during a protest with hundreds of people in Rio. «We will continue to be on the streets until this inhumane work week ends.»
Lula has taken several other steps in recent days to bolster support before the runoff, including new fuel tax cuts, the extension of existing subsidies, a pledge to pardon the debts of more than 3.6 million small businesses with the federal government, a decision to block mobile phone signals around prisons, and increased payments under a welfare programme for university students.
The reform reflects a growing trend across Latin America. Chile and Colombia have recently enacted landmark legislation to shorten their respective working weeks to 40 and 42 hours, emboldening Brazilian labour groups to seek the same. In February, Mexican lawmakers approved a proposal by President Claudia Sheinbaum to trim the 48-hour working week, with hours to be shortened gradually to 40 by 2030. Chile passed its so-called 40-Hour Law in 2023, applying it to all workers under the country's Labour Code without reducing pay. Argentina, by contrast, has bucked the trend under President Javier Milei and may extend its 48-hour working week.
Not everyone is convinced the timing is coincidental. «Any change made in an election year can be considered an electoral measure,» said Carla Beni, an economist at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a think-tank and university.
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