The approved text introduces three key constitutional changes.

The first is the reduction of the maximum work week from 44 to 40 hours. The second is the establishment of two paid weekly rest days, preferably one of them on Sundays—a measure that, in practice, ends the 6x1 schedule as the standard model for work organization. The third is the guarantee that the reduction will occur without any reduction in salary, nominal or proportional, applying the rule even to the minimum wages stipulated in collective bargaining agreements.

The proposed constitutional amendment expressly preserves the possibility of compensating for overtime and reducing working hours through collective bargaining agreements. It also establishes an exceptional compensatory regime, according to which collective agreements may ensure, on average for the calendar month, two days of weekly rest—provided that at least one of these days is guaranteed within a maximum period of one working week. This provision is especially relevant for activities where weekly interruption is not operationally feasible, such as healthcare, security, transportation, urban cleaning, shopping mall commerce, and essential services.

The implementation will occur in stages, over a total period of 14 months from the promulgation of the future constitutional amendment.

Sixty days after the amendment is published, two rules will come into effect simultaneously: the mandatory two days of paid weekly rest and the reduction of the work week to 42 hours. Within the same timeframe, clauses in collective agreements and conventions regarding working hours and weekly rest that are incompatible with the new regime will cease to be effective, making collective renegotiation urgent.

Twelve months after the end of this initial period, the work week is definitively reduced to 40 hours. During this transition period, a collective agreement or convention may extend the daily working hours beyond eight hours to allow for the distribution of 42 hours per week, always respecting the two-day rest period.

One of the most relevant innovations of the substitute bill is the creation, at the constitutional level, of the figure of the highly qualified employee for the purposes of working hours. According to the new provision, the rules relating to working hours and control of working hours do not apply to employees holding a higher education degree who receive a monthly remuneration equal to or greater than two and a half times the ceiling of benefits under the General Social Security Regime — a value currently equivalent to R$ 21,188.87 — except at the employer's discretion or as stipulated in a collective bargaining agreement.

The measure is expressly based on combating the practice of "pejotização" (the practice of hiring workers as independent contractors rather than employees) and considerably expands the scope for maintaining formal employment contracts in relationships that today frequently shift to hiring as independent contractors. The exception does not apply to public employees of the direct and indirect administration, and jurisdiction for judging any disputes is expressly assigned to the Labor Courts.

The approval of the text in the Chamber of Deputies and its forwarding to the Senate make the scenario of change concrete and require companies to adopt an active planning stance. Among the points that demand immediate attention, the following stand out: the internal diagnosis of the contingent currently subject to the 6x1 schedule, the review of current collective agreements and conventions in light of the rule of loss of effect in 60 days, the monitoring of collective bargaining negotiations that will define sectoral compensation regimes, and the evaluation of opportunities for contractual regularization in the segment of highly skilled employees.

The change does not, however, represent an abrupt rupture. The transition periods, although shorter than those adopted in comparable international experiences, offer room for operational reorganization. The history of labor reforms in Brazil—from the 1988 Constitution to the Domestic Workers' Amendment—demonstrates that the economy has the capacity to absorb adjustments of this nature, especially when there is adequate planning.

The proposal now goes to the Federal Senate, where it will be considered in two rounds of voting, requiring approval by three-fifths of the parliamentarians in each round. Any changes in the Senate will require the text to return to the Chamber of Deputies.

The law firm Mazzucco & Mello Advogados is closely monitoring the progress of the proposal and is available to clients for clarifications, impact assessments, and the development of strategies for adapting to the new constitutional regime regarding working hours.