Decree regulating the end of 6x1 has been published and should only be published after Lula returns

The decree to regulate the end of the 6x1 scale, which was scheduled to be published this Monday (9), should only be published after President Lula (PT) returns from his trips abroad, according to sources familiar with the matter consulted by Folha.

Government interlocutors say that the new forecast is that the decree will be issued next week, starting on November 16th.

The Minister of Labor, Luiz Marinho, had stated last Thursday (4) that the decree would come out this Monday. However, the president was unable to evaluate the document last week and, therefore, publication was postponed, according to sources linked to the minister.

This Monday, Lula left for Turkey, where he will participate in COP31, the UN (United Nations) climate conference. Afterwards, he will head to the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summit in the Philippines.

According to Marinho, the decree will reinforce the prevalence of the collective agreement over the law. The rule will include the possibility for the worker to have just one rest a week at some point in the month, as long as, at the end of the 30 days, he has taken eight days off.

In these cases, it would be possible, for example, for a worker to work on a 6x1 schedule one week, and on a 4x3 schedule, with three days off, the other – as long as the model is provided for in the collective agreement.

The MTE decree will not, however, have a specific list of categories affected by the regulation. Companies must individually decide how the scale regime will be applied to their realities, considering the rules set out in the amendment.

The regulation of the end of 6x1 should also affect other standards on the labor market. Marinho has already agreed with the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB), to change NRs (Regulatory Standards) that create barriers to compliance with the new working hours rules.

This is the case of the telemarketing sector, according to Marinho. An NR prohibits the sector from working daily longer than six hours. "With this limitation, I cannot implement two days off a week with the need for the sector to operate 365 days a year, 24 hours a day", said the minister.

The amendment to end the 6x1 comes into effect on December 16th. From that date onwards, the maximum 44-hour working week will be 42 hours. And the granting of two days off a week becomes mandatory.

The Ministry of Labor and Employment standard will then allow these two days off to become an average, allowing companies to distribute these days of rest across their shifts.

The decree and the NRs should not provide, according to Luiz Marinho, any exception to the reduction in working hours.

In Congress, regulation remains undefined. A bill sent by the Lula government to the Chamber remains stalled. In the Senate, the leader of the MDB, Eduardo Braga (AM), said that he has been working on another PEC that, according to him, would solve the gaps left by the amendment at the end of the 6x1.