The working hours transition has already started to run and demands calculations, a review of shift patterns and attention to the exceptions set out in the amendment.
The working hours transition is no longer a hypothesis. Constitutional Amendment No. 141/2026 was published in the Official Gazette of the Union (Diário Oficial da União) on 16 October 2026, in a special edition. As a result, the adaptation deadlines are already running. Figures from the Ministry of Labour and Employment indicate that approximately 14.8 million people work under the 6×1 pattern (six days worked followed by one day off). For companies with a large number of monthly-paid employees, the immediate question is a financial one: how much does each working hour now cost?
Beyond cost, there are operational uncertainties. The 12×36 shift pattern (12 hours worked followed by 36 hours of rest), hour banks and collective bargaining clauses must be reconciled with the new wording of Article 7 of the Federal Constitution. At the same time, the amendment created specific rules for small businesses and for high-earning employees. This article organises these three points and indicates the most urgent measures to be taken.
The timetable of the working hours transition
The amendment alters item XIII of Article 7. The text now provides for normal working hours not exceeding 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week. However, Article 6 of the amendment phases in this reduction in two stages.
- Two months after publication, that is, in December 2026, the normal working week may not exceed 42 hours.
- One year after that first stage, therefore in December 2027, the ceiling falls to 40 hours.
Likewise, the new item XV guarantees two days of paid weekly rest, one of them preferably on Sundays. Under Article 10, item I, this rule comes into force two months after publication. The remaining provisions, on the other hand, apply as from the date of publication.
There is one detail that changes the calculation. As from December 2026, employees will be entitled to two days off and to a maximum of 8 hours per day. In practice, five days of 8 hours add up to 40 hours. For this reason, a company may only take advantage of the 42-hour stage if there is collective bargaining. Article 7 of the amendment allows a collective bargaining convention or agreement to extend daily working hours during the transition. The purpose is to distribute the 42 hours across the week.
How the cost per hour changes for employers with many monthly-paid employees
Article 2 of the amendment lies at the heart of the financial problem. The reduction in working hours applies to contracts in force and does not permit any reduction in wages, whether nominal, proportional or of any other kind. In addition, the sole paragraph extends this prohibition on reduction to minimum wage floors.
Accordingly, the monthly salary remains the same while the contracted hours decrease. The consequence is arithmetical. For example, if the week falls from 44 to 40 hours and the salary does not change, each hour becomes 10% more expensive. At the intermediate stage of 42 hours, the increase is around 4.8%.
Effects that go beyond base salary
The increase does not stop at the value of the normal hour. First, the company calculates overtime on a higher base. Next, every hour worked above the new limit becomes overtime, attracting the minimum constitutional premium. Finally, payments that use the hour as their base, such as the night-shift premium, also rise.
Hourly-paid and commission-based employees require particular attention. For them, the second day of paid rest increases the weight of rest within overall remuneration. Moreover, the broad wording of Article 2 suggests that the monthly remuneration of these employees cannot fall as a result of the reduction in hours. This point is likely to generate debate and warrants individual calculation by category.
Those already working 40 hours or less feel the impact to a lesser degree. Article 4 rules out any proportional reduction of such working hours. Even so, the two-day rest rule applies to everyone, which may require a new shift design.
Fixed-price contracts
Companies providing services with dedicated labour need to review their pricing. In contracts with the public administration, Article 9 provides for an amendment to restore the economic and financial balance within one year of publication. In private contracts, however, there is no equivalent rule. Any revision therefore depends on the price adjustment and rebalancing clauses of each contract.
The 12×36 shift pattern and hour banks in the working hours transition
The amendment does not expressly prohibit either the 12×36 shift pattern or hour banks. Nevertheless, both must fit within three limits: 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week and two days of rest. Item XIII itself makes the offsetting of working hours conditional upon a collective bargaining agreement or convention.
The 12×36 calculation
Under the classic 12×36 pattern, the employee works 12 hours in every 48-hour cycle. In other words, the average is 42 hours per week. This average fits within the first stage, but exceeds the 40-hour ceiling as from December 2027. The shift pattern will therefore require adjustment, such as shorter shifts or additional days off.
As regards rest, the new paragraph 2 of Article 7 is of assistance. It authorises a collective bargaining convention or agreement to establish an offsetting regime with an average of two days of rest per calendar month. It also requires at least one day off within each working week. The provision covers, among others, workers subject to special regimes provided for in statute or in regulatory standards.
The sensitive point lies in the 12×36 pattern arranged by individual agreement. The new wording links both offsetting and the average rest period to collective bargaining. For this reason, shift patterns agreed solely with the employee carry a greater risk of challenge. Until specific legislation is enacted, the safest solution is through a collective instrument.
In addition, paragraph 3 of Article 7 allows legislation to regulate special regimes of working hours and rest. However, such legislation will have to respect the limits of items XIII, XIV and XV. In other words, future regulation will not be able simply to maintain shift patterns above the constitutional ceiling.
Hour banks and collective bargaining clauses
Hour banks follow the same logic. Offsetting remains possible, but the calculation must respect the new weekly average and the two days off. In addition, Article 3 of the amendment sets a short deadline. Two months after publication, collective bargaining clauses on working hours and rest that are incompatible with the amendment cease to have effect.
In practice, conventions and agreements signed under the 44-hour ceiling may lose part of their content in December 2026. Companies and trade unions therefore have little time to renegotiate shift patterns, offsetting arrangements and the extension of daily hours permitted by Article 7 of the amendment.
Micro and small enterprises: what Article 5 permits
Article 5 authorises a complementary law to create transitional measures for individual micro-entrepreneurs, micro-enterprises and small enterprises. Such measures will seek to mitigate the impact of the amendment. However, they depend on one condition: the maintenance of employment levels.
The provision is not self-executing. Until Congress approves the complementary law, small businesses follow the same timetable as all other companies. It is therefore inadvisable to postpone adaptation in the expectation of relief that does not yet exist.
It is also worth noting that the requirement to maintain employment suggests that evidence will be required in the future. It is therefore advisable to organise headcount and payroll records from now on.
High-earning employees and Article 8
Article 8 creates a significant exception. It applies to employees holding a higher education degree. It also requires monthly remuneration equal to or greater than two and a half times the benefit ceiling of the Regime Geral de Previdência Social (the Brazilian general social security scheme). For such employees, the rules on working hours and on time recording do not apply.
The exception, however, has limits. First, the employer may apply the rules voluntarily, and a collective bargaining instrument may also provide for them. Second, the two-day rest period under item XV and the offsetting regime under paragraph 2 remain mandatory. Finally, the exception does not apply to public employees of the direct and indirect administration.
Unlike the rest rule, this provision applies as from publication, pursuant to Article 10, item II. Even so, companies must act with care. A judge may interpret the continued use of time recording as a voluntary concession, which would reinstate the working hours rules. Likewise, a fall in remuneration below the threshold, for example due to lower variable pay, may remove the employee from the scope of the exception.
Paragraph 2 of Article 8 confers jurisdiction over claims relating to this exception on the Labour Courts. It is therefore advisable to document the employee’s degree and to monitor monthly remuneration, since the social security ceiling changes with each adjustment.
What to do before December 2026
- Calculate, team by team, the cost per hour at the 42-hour and 40-hour stages, including overtime and related effects.
- Map 12×36 shift patterns, hour banks and individual offsetting agreements.
- Open negotiations with the trade union in order to adjust clauses before the deadline under Article 3.
- Review prices and rebalancing clauses in service contracts involving dedicated labour.
- Identify who meets the requirements of Article 8 and define the time-recording policy for that group.
In short, the working hours transition combines a short deadline with an unavoidable calculation. The point still open is regulation: the legislation referred to in paragraph 3 on special regimes and the complementary law under Article 5 have no set date. In the meantime, collective bargaining is the main tool available to get through the first year without incurring liabilities.
Read other legal news commented on by the firm and the articles by Moraes de Freitas Advogados.