I don't want to transform the system, because that would cause tremendous damage
The PEC reduces weekly hours from 44 to 40 and adds a second mandatory rest day, calculated via monthly average to protect shift-based professions. Rapporteur Leo Prates aims to maintain existing labor law structure while strengthening collective bargaining agreements as consensus among government, employers, and unions.
- Work week reduced from 44 to 40 hours; second mandatory rest day added
- Monthly averaging used to accommodate shift workers like nurses and flight attendants
- Committee vote scheduled for May 28; full chamber vote possible same day
- Amendment will be 8-10 articles; sector-specific rules handled in separate legislation
Brazil's constitutional amendment rapporteur proposes calculating the new 40-hour weekly work limit using monthly averages to accommodate shift workers, with the measure expected to reach committee vote by May 28.
Leo Prates, a federal deputy from Bahia, is steering Brazil's most significant labor reform in decades toward a vote. The constitutional amendment he's shepherding would cut the standard work week from 44 hours to 40 and guarantee workers two days off per week instead of one. On Wednesday, Prates laid out how he plans to make it work: by calculating those hours on a monthly average rather than a weekly one.
The timing is tight. Prates said he would present his formal report to the special committee handling the amendment the following Monday, May 25th. He would then request additional time for review—a procedural move that would push the committee vote to Thursday, May 28th. The Chamber president, Hugo Motta, has already signaled he might bring the measure to the full floor that same day. The speed reflects genuine consensus: government officials, business leaders, and labor representatives all seem to want this done.
What makes the monthly averaging crucial is the reality of how many Brazilians actually work. Nurses, flight attendants, security guards, and others operate on rotating schedules—12 hours on, 36 hours off, for instance. In some weeks they'd work 42 hours; in others, less than 40. A rigid weekly calculation would either force employers to restructure entire industries or make the law unworkable. Monthly averaging solves that without gutting the reform.
Prates is being deliberate about what stays and what goes. He wants to keep the existing constitutional language almost unchanged, simply swapping "44 hours" for "40 hours" and adding language about the second rest day. He's not trying to rebuild the labor code from scratch. "I don't want to transform or modify the system, because that would cause tremendous damage to the productive sector," he said. This restraint is strategic. The more modest the constitutional amendment itself, the easier it passes. The harder questions—how airline crews work 14-hour flights, how to handle 36-hour-or-less schedules, how to apply rules to specific professions—those get punted to separate legislation.
One detail matters: Prates is explicitly excluding schedules of 36 hours or fewer from the amendment's scope. He's worried about a legal principle that would allow proportional reductions. If someone works 30 hours a week, a 10 percent cut would mean 27 hours. That's not the intent. The reform is about moving from 44 to 40, not about creating a cascade of smaller cuts. He's trying to close that door before litigation opens it.
Collective bargaining agreements—contracts negotiated between unions and employers—will become the real engine of implementation. Prates emphasized this repeatedly. Government, business, and labor all want stronger collective agreements, and he's writing that into the amendment. It's a way of saying: we set the floor (40 hours, two days off, no pay cuts), but the details get worked out between the people actually doing the work and the people paying for it.
The amendment itself will be lean—eight to ten articles, Prates said. Simple text. The real rulebook comes later, in specific laws for specific sectors. A flight attendant's schedule won't be written the same way as a factory worker's or a nurse's. That's not a flaw in the design; it's the whole point. You can't legislate away the fact that some work is inherently different.
Prates was clear about what he considers non-negotiable: 40 hours per week, two days off, no reduction in salary, and stronger collective bargaining. Those four things are locked in. Everything else is implementation detail. By May 28th, Brazil's Congress will likely vote on whether to move forward with it.
Notable Quotes
I don't want to transform or modify the system, because that would cause tremendous damage to the productive sector.— Leo Prates, rapporteur of the constitutional amendment
What I consider fundamental: 40 hours, two days off, without salary reduction, and strengthening of collective bargaining agreements.— Leo Prates
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why monthly averaging instead of weekly? Doesn't that weaken the protection?
It doesn't weaken it—it makes it real. A nurse on a 12-36 schedule can't work 40 hours every single week. Some weeks she works 42, some weeks 36. Monthly averaging lets you enforce the 40-hour limit without forcing hospitals to hire twice as many staff or break the schedule system entirely.
So this is a compromise with business?
It's a compromise with reality. The government, employers, and unions all agreed on this approach. If you write a law that doesn't work for how people actually work, it either gets ignored or gets struck down in court.
What about the people working 30 or 36 hours already? Do they get the benefit?
That's the tricky part. Prates is explicitly saying those schedules are outside the amendment. He's worried that if he doesn't, courts will apply a proportional 10 percent cut to everyone, which wasn't the intent. The reform is about moving from 44 to 40, not creating a sliding scale.
So the real work happens in the separate laws?
Exactly. The amendment sets the frame—40 hours, two days off, no pay cuts. Then sector-specific laws handle the details. How do you schedule a 14-hour flight? How do you handle retail? How do you handle healthcare? Each one is different.
Why is collective bargaining so important to him?
Because it's where the rubber meets the road. The government can't write a rule for every job. But a union and an employer sitting down together can figure out what 40 hours and two days off actually means for their specific work. It's decentralizing the hard decisions.
Does this feel like it will actually pass?
The speed suggests yes. When government, business, and labor all show up in the same room and agree on something, that's rare in Brazil. The fact that they're moving this to a vote by May 28th tells you there's real momentum.