South Americaupdated 1h ago2 min read
Brazil’s Senate Approves 40-Hour Workweek, Lula Backs Measure Without Salary Cuts
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Senate approved reducing the workweek from 44 to 40 hours without salary cuts. Two paid days off per week are guaranteed under the reform.
Senate cuts to 40 hours
Brazil’s Senate approved a constitutional amendment to reduce the country’s maximum workweek from 44 to 40 hours without cutting salaries, a move President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva backed ahead of the Oct. 25 presidential runoff.
The amendment passed in two rounds of voting with the same result, 75 to 1 out of 81 members, and the sole vote against it came from former Vice President Hamilton Mourao.
Flávio Bolsonaro opposed the initiative until early this week, then voted for it remotely as he campaigned in southern Brazil.
Lula said in a statement, “Today is a day to celebrate a historic achievement for millions of workers,” after the Senate vote.
The government said the change could benefit more than 37 million workers, and businesses received 14 months to adopt the shorter workweek.
Bolsonaro reverses, Lula celebrates
Flávio Bolsonaro dropped his previous opposition and cast a “yes” vote, and he said, “Most Brazilian workers want to see the end of the six-day workweek, so I'm going to vote in favour of ending it.” Lula described Bolsonaro’s policy reversal as “electoral opportunism” and celebrated the amendment’s approval, writing, “It means more time to live, rest, be with family, watch your children grow up, look after yourself and enjoy life.” Senators passed the amendment less than two weeks before the second round of the presidential election, and the BBC said the measure was estimated to benefit more than 30 million workers.
The BBC also reported that the measure had already passed in the Chamber of Deputies in May before senators backed it on Wednesday by 75 votes to one. Luciana de Almeida, 36, told BBC Brasil that the change would “make a lot of difference” to her life as she described being “very tired” and needing “time with my daughters.”
Implementation and political stakes
The reform is due to be phased in, with the working week first being shortened to 42 hours after a two-month grace period and then again to 40 hours at a later stage, the BBC said.
The BBC reported that the changes will take more than a year to entirely take effect, while the government said the amendment gives businesses 14 months to adopt the shorter workweek.
Omar Aziz, the senator overseeing the bill, said, “I'm certain this is the biggest gain for Brazilian workers since the 1988 Constitution,” after the Senate vote.
Teresa Leitão, the government spokesperson in the Senate, warned, “There are people who don’t want this vote to end today. For that reason, we must remain vigilant to prevent setbacks in the future,” as opponents criticized the timing.
The amendment’s passage came with the presidential runoff on Oct. 25 and followed a first-round result in which the BBC said Flávio Bolsonaro won with 47% of the vote ahead of Lula on 45.2%.