Brazil ends the 6x1 schedule: two rest days and a 42-hour week from mid-December
A constitutional amendment adds a second rest day for about 14.9 million workers. It can also make the working day about an hour longer.
The brief
- Brazil amended its Constitution on October 16. The six-days-on, one-day-off schedule (6x1) ends in mid-December, two months after publication.
- Two paid rest days a week, one preferably on Sunday, and normal hours capped at 42 a week, down from 44, with no pay cut.
- The cap falls to 40 hours a week from December 2027.
- Other schedules are allowed only through a collective agreement, and workers must still average two rest days a week over the month.
What it means for your people
Brazil’s Labor Ministry estimated in May that 14.9 million workers were on 6x1. That’s about a third of the 44.7 million whose hours it mapped.
Now the part the headlines skip. Forty-four hours over six days averages 7 hours 20 minutes a day. Forty-two hours over five days averages 8 hours 24 minutes. For the first year, the amendment lets collective agreements lengthen the working day to make that fit. So the same change that adds a rest day to the week can add about an hour to the working day.
That matters because Brazil’s Ministry of Social Security granted a record 546,254 sick-leave benefits for mental health conditions in 2025, up 15.7% from 2024. A second rest day changes the calendar. Whether it leads to recovery depends on how the other five days are designed. The change also lands about ten days before Christmas, in peak season for retail.
What to do in the next eight weeks
- Ask HR and operations who is moving off 6x1, and what their new shifts will look like.
- Check your collective agreements: during the 42-hour year they can lengthen the working day.
- Plan for the longer days: breaks, fatigue, and how people actually recover on the second rest day.
- Brief managers before the first week on the new schedule, which falls in peak retail season.
How Workbliss can help
Live sessions in Portuguese, online or at your sites in Brazil, for teams moving to the new schedule: managing longer days, sleep and recovery, and briefings for the managers leading the change.
Plan support for your teamsSources
- Constitutional Amendment 141, official text (in Portuguese), published in the Official Gazette on October 16, 2026. planalto.gov.br
- Labor Ministry estimate of workers on 6x1, May 2026
- Ministry of Social Security, mental health sick-leave benefits for 2025, released January 2026
- Start date: Agência Brasil reports December 15; Correio da Manhã reports December 16