Plenary of the Federal Senate discusses the PEC at the end of the 6x1 scale — Photo: Jonas Pereira/Agência Senado
The approval of the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) that foresees the end of the 6x1 scale in the Senate this Wednesday (14) had repercussions among representatives of the productive sector and workers.
Business entities expressed concern about possible impacts on costs, productivity and job creation. Union centrals celebrated the result. (see entity notes below)
The proposal was approved in two rounds, with 75 votes in favor and one against in each vote; text now goes to promulgation.
The new rules do not take effect immediately. After promulgation by the National Congress and official publication, the transition deadlines provided for in the proposal begin to run.
"Although this process may take a few days, the expectation is that, in this case, it will be quick. My estimate is that promulgation and publication will take place by the end of the week", explains Rubens Beçak, professor of Constitutional Law at USP.
What the approved PEC provides
The processing of the PEC has mobilized parliamentarians, businesspeople and workers over the last few months because the proposal changes one of the main parameters of Brazilian labor legislation.
The text gradually reduces the maximum working hours from 44 to 40 hours per week without salary reduction and guarantees two days of paid rest per week.
The proposal amends article 7 of the Federal Constitution, which currently establishes a maximum working day of 44 hours per week.
According to the approved text, the reduction in working hours will occur in two stages.
First stage:
Started 60 days after the amendment was promulgated;
reduction of maximum working hours from 44 to 42 hours per week;
guaranteed two days of paid rest per week.
Second stage:
Started 12 months after the first phase;
definitive reduction of maximum working hours to 40 hours per week.
The text determines that the reduction in working hours cannot result in a reduction in salary nor affect the salary floors of professional categories.
The PEC also establishes specific rules for outsourced contracts with the public administration, provides for the possibility of regulating differentiated regimes for certain activities and authorizes the creation of measures aimed at reducing economic impacts on individual microentrepreneurs (MEIs), microenterprises and small businesses.
These measures, however, will depend on subsequent regulation and do not come into force automatically with the promulgation of the constitutional amendment.
What the production sector says
Brazilian Association of Bars and Restaurants (Abrasel)
Abrasel receives with concern the change in position of the president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre. In recent months, we have publicly recognized the balanced way in which he led the debate about the end of the 6x1 scale. The special calendar now under discussion reduces the analysis period provided for in the regulations and changes the rules of procedure just a few days before the second round of elections. A topic that affects the lives of all Brazilians deserves another rite.
The impacts of this measure are extremely serious and still little known by society. This translates not only into costs, but into a lack of service, precarious services and several other impacts on everyone's lives. In bars and restaurants, spending on employees is expected to rise by around 20%. Even companies that already work on a 5x2 basis, with 40 hours a week, will see a 9.1% cost increase. The bill will reach the citizen. Those who live in a condominium, for example, can have the rate adjusted by 20%. Representatives of São Paulo hospitals have already warned that service every day of the week is threatened without new regulations.
For private companies, the PEC provides for a transition of just 60 days. It is a period incompatible with the maintenance of services and the proper functioning of many businesses in a country with a shortage of labor. There is no possibility of maintaining the same offer and the same quality, as there is no available labor, especially specialized labor, to fill the gaps created in an untimely manner. The risk is of immediate precariousness of essential services, such as those provided by restaurants, hospitals, clinics and schools.
Abrasel is confident that senators can still avoid approving the special calendar. We hope that the second round vote will be held after the elections, so that the country can discuss the issue calmly and learn about its impacts.
We also defend the approval of the Flexible Work PEC, at the beginning of next year, already in the new legislature. The proposal allows hiring by the hour and mobile working hours and meets the interests of workers and entrepreneurs, who share one objective: collective prosperity.
National Confederation of Industry (CNI)
The National Confederation of Industry (CNI) considers the approval of the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) 221/2019 to be worrying, which reduces the working day from 44 to 40 hours per week and establishes the end of the 6x1 scale. In the assessment of the industrial sector, the measure approved by the Federal Senate will cause economic losses, layoffs, passing on costs to the population and inflation throughout the country. For the CNI, the change approved during the election period represents a setback for Brazil, which already suffers from low productivity and lack of competitiveness in the international market.
"We regret that the vote was taken without further debate with Brazilian society and we understand that the impacts of this measure were not properly measured", points out the president of the CNI, Ricardo Alban. "After observing, for example, the loss of competitiveness and high inflation, we believe that the National Congress can open space to revisit the issue in order to find the best solution for the Brazilian economy", adds the leader.
A recent survey by the CNI shows that reducing working hours to 40 hours a week, while maintaining wages, will increase production costs by up to R$267.2 billion and result in a 0.7% drop in the Brazilian Gross Domestic Product (GDP), equivalent to R$76.9 billion. The data also shows that consumer prices will rise by 6.2% on average, impacting supermarket purchases, for example, which could be 5.7% more expensive. Industrialized products will have an average increase of 6% – in the case of clothing and footwear, the price increase could reach 6.6%.
For the CNI, in addition to causing legal uncertainty, the constitutional amendment hits hard on the entire productive sector, which will need to adjust its production and increase its costs amid an adverse economic scenario in the country, which already faces a heavy tax burden and stratospheric interest rates. To comply with the measure, the industry will have to make a series of adaptations to its scales and reorganize the production process.
What worker representatives say
National Confederation of Commerce Workers (CNTC)
The National Confederation of Commercial Workers (CNTC), which represents more than 12 million workers in commerce, goods and services, reaffirms its position in favor of the end of the 6x1 scale and the reduction of working hours without salary reduction.
For the entity, the reduction in working hours is directly related to the physical and mental health of workers, the right to rest and family life. The CNTC highlights that the change must consider the particularities of commerce and services, ensuring the preservation of labor rights.
The Confederation also highlights the importance of collective bargaining and the participation of unions in the implementation of the new rules, in order to guarantee legal certainty, protection for workers and balance in labor relations.
