Brazilian presidential candidate Senator Flávio Bolsonaro has proposed an alternative to a constitutional amendment that would eliminate the country's six-day work schedule, advocating instead for an employment system based on hourly pay.
Speaking to journalists in São Paulo on Sunday following a meeting with El Salvador's Minister of Justice, Gustavo Villatoro, the Liberal Party candidate said his proposal would offer greater freedom by allowing Brazilian workers to choose their own working hours and schedules.
Bolsonaro said his proposed model accounts for the fact that individuals do not all share the same availability for work. He cited the example of mothers who cannot work seven or eight hours a day because they have no one to care for their children, arguing that a four-hour shift would suit their needs while guaranteeing all existing statutory labor rights under Brazilian law.
Senate review of the work week reform
The proposal comes as the Federal Senate examines a proposed constitutional amendment, known in Brazil as a PEC, that provides for the end of the 6x1 work schedule. Under the traditional 6x1 system, employees work six consecutive days followed by a single day of rest, an arrangement widely used across retail and service sectors under the country's Consolidated Labor Laws.
Senate President Davi Alcolumbre, a member of União Brasil representing the state of Amapá, sent the amendment to the Senate Constitution, Justice and Citizenship Commission on August 21. The committee, commonly known as the CCJ, is responsible for evaluating whether legislative proposals conform to the Brazilian Constitution before floor votes.
Senator Omar Aziz of the Social Democratic Party, representing Amazonas, serves as the rapporteur for the measure. Aziz stated that his intention is to pass the text without modifications, allowing the bill to proceed directly to formal promulgation without needing to return to the Chamber of Deputies for further analysis.
Political maneuvering ahead of elections
Opposition lawmakers plan to submit a formal request for additional review time in the committee, known procedurally as a request for view, in an effort to postpone a vote on the matter.
However, government supporters evaluated that delaying the vote could prove politically dangerous so close to upcoming elections, citing the strong popular appeal of ending the six-day work week.
Flávio Bolsonaro, a senator representing Rio de Janeiro and the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, is running for president as the candidate for the right-wing Liberal Party.
