The Confederação Nacional da Indústria (CNI, the national industry confederation) and the Confederação Nacional do Comércio de Bens, Serviços e Turismo (CNC, the national confederation of commerce, services and tourism) went to the Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF, Brazil's Supreme Court) on Wednesday (4) against the end of the 6x1 work schedule. Both want the court to suspend parts of Constitutional Amendment 141, promulgated by Congress on 16 October, which replaced the model of six working days and one day off with five working days and two paid weekly rest days, with no cut in pay.
Hours earlier, Labour and Employment Minister Luiz Marinho had announced that the decree regulating the amendment should be published on Monday (9).
What the CNC is asking for
The CNC's case is a direct action of unconstitutionality, ADI 8,041, assigned to Justice Flávio Dino, according to the legal outlet ConJur. The confederation is not contesting the end of the schedule itself — it wants more time.
Under the amendment, the first step of the reduction, from 44 to 42 weekly hours, takes effect 60 days after promulgation, that is, from 15 December. The CNC wants that step moved to 16 October 2027, one year after the text was published, and the 40-hour ceiling to October 2028.
Two arguments support the request. The first is that the 60-day deadline is disproportionate, because it demands structural change and falls precisely in the busiest season for commerce, services and tourism. The second is that the new rules would cut short clauses of collective agreements still in force: because working hours are tied to shift patterns, rotations, hour-banking systems and premiums, changing hours alone would unbalance the rest of the agreement.
Industry's arithmetic
The CNI argues that the amendment violates legal certainty, free economic initiative and collective bargaining autonomy. In the confederation's view, collective agreements already signed "should keep full effect" until they expire or until new terms are negotiated.
The group estimates that the shorter working week, combined with the wider weekly rest and no reduction in pay, raises the cost of formal industrial labour by 11.1% — the equivalent of R$ 88 billion. The CNI also says many industrial plants run continuously and that their viability has always depended on collectively negotiated rest schedules.
What the decree should contain
Marinho said on Wednesday that the text would be discussed with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Thursday (5) and published on Monday. The plan had been to publish it last week, but the president had not yet signed off on the matter.
According to the minister, the regulation sets a floor of eight days off in every 30-day period and leaves the distribution of that rest to collective bargaining, with transition rules for sectors that operate without interruption — health, transport, security and urban sanitation.
"There is no flexibility list. The amendment requires two weekly rest days," Marinho said. For him, the margin granted lies in consolidating the two rest days within the month, not in creating sector-by-sector exceptions.
In the same interview, presenting formal employment figures, the minister criticised the level of interest rates in Brazil: "What is unacceptable is staying at the interest-rate level we are paying."
The amendment's timetable
Amendment 141 came out of PEC 221/2019 and was approved by the Senate in two rounds by 75 votes to 1, with Senator Omar Aziz (PSD-AM) as rapporteur. The text provides:
- from promulgation onwards: two paid weekly rest days guaranteed;
- 60 days later (15 December 2026): the weekly ceiling falls from 44 to 42 hours, with a preference for one rest day to fall on a Sunday;
- 14 months after publication: the ceiling falls to 40 hours, with no pay cut.
Clauses of collective agreements incompatible with the new rules lose effect after 60 days. Workers with a university degree earning at least 2.5 times the ceiling of the Regime Geral de Previdência Social (RGPS, the general social security system) are outside the rules on working-time duration and control, and the amendment does not reach public servants. Working weeks already set at 40 hours or less are not cut proportionally. A future complementary law may create adaptation measures for micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses, provided they preserve jobs.
A survey by the Nexus institute in February, cited in the filing, found that 73% of Brazilians supported ending the 6x1 schedule.
With information from Agência Brasil, Agência Senado and ConJur.
