Brazil's Senate gives employers 14 months to move from a 44-hour to a 40-hour week

The compliance window was the key sticking point in the negotiations ^[5]. Many business leaders and lawmakers wanted the change phased in over 10 years ^[6]. At 14 months, the window is about 12% of that, or 14 divided by 120 months ^[15]. A roster built around a 44-hour week has to be rebuilt inside the shorter period.

For a worker on a fixed monthly salary, pay stays the same while hours fall from 44 to 40, so each hour worked costs 10% more ^[14]. An employer that needs the same output has to find the four missing hours per worker through hiring or extra shifts. Many Bolsonaro allies said in their remarks that they see the cost of living going up because of the new schedule ^[12].

The Senate president, Davi Alcolumbre, timed the vote between the first and second rounds of the presidential election ^[18]. The report says that timing benefits the incumbent, Lula ^[18]. Carla Beni, an economist at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, said: "Any change made in an election year can be considered an electoral measure." ^[16]

The size of the vote, 75 to 1 ^[2], points to Flávio Bolsonaro's Senate allies. The report says they stopped blocking the measure so he would not be hurt in a neck-to-neck race ^[17]. The government has also been working on the proposal since last year ^[13].

Bolsonaro reversed his long-standing opposition on Tuesday ^[9]. He had favored a payment-by-the-hour regime and individual negotiations between employees and employers ^[11]. Hours after announcing support, he told business owners that the new Congress could review the measure, according to the newspaper O Globo ^[10]. His party could reach a simple majority with allied parties in February ^[10].

The report does not say what a review would require or when the 14 months begin to run. Waiting on a review is a bet on two events, the Oct. 25 runoff ^[17] and the February Congress. We'd expect careful employers to model the 40-hour schedule now and hold the irreversible steps, such as rewriting contracts, until both are known.

Not every worker is covered. The government says more than 37 million workers could benefit ^[7]. People in the shadow economy, such as freelancers and delivery drivers, will not be affected ^[8].