# Brazil's Senate votes 75-1 to cut the work week to 40 hours, ten days before the Lula-Flávio Bolsonaro runoff

Folha reports that Jair Bolsonaro favors economist Adolfo Sachsida to run the Finance Ministry if his son wins on October 25, while Lula says he expects a tariff deal with Washington but will not rule out retaliation.

- Published: 2026-10-16T05:18:24.267Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/2026-10-16/brazil-s-senate-votes-75-1-to-cut-the-work-week-to-40-hours
- Publisher: Polylog (Global desk)
- Section: world
- Sources: [MercoPress](https://en.mercopress.com/2026/10/15/brazil-approves-a-40-hour-week-and-two-days-off-ten-days-before-the-runoff?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_content=main&utm_campaign=rss), [Folha (Mercado)](https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/mercado/2026/10/sachsida-e-o-favorito-de-jair-bolsonaro-para-comandar-fazenda-em-eventual-governo-flavio.shtml), [InfoMoney](https://www.infomoney.com.br/politica/lula-diz-acreditar-em-acordo-com-eua-sobre-tarifas-mas-nao-descarta-reciprocidade/)

Brazil's Senate on Wednesday voted 75 to one to [cut the maximum working week from 44 to 40 hours with no reduction in pay](https://en.mercopress.com/2026/10/15/brazil-approves-a-40-hour-week-and-two-days-off-ten-days-before-the-runoff?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_content=main&utm_campaign=rss). The change ends the six-day schedule with one day off, known in Brazil as "6x1," and guarantees two days off for formal-sector workers. Only one senator voted against the bill ten days before the presidential runoff, which shows how popular the measure is with voters.

The runoff on October 25 is close. A Datafolha poll published on October 8 showed Flávio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party (PL) with [49% against 45% for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva](https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2026/10/08/datafolha-segundo-turno-flavio-bolsonaro-49-lula-45/). Other surveys from late September showed the two candidates tied. Investors are watching who would manage the economy as much as who wins. Folha de S.Paulo, citing six people in the campaign, reported that former president Jair Bolsonaro's choice for finance minister in a government led by his son is [Adolfo Sachsida](https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/mercado/2026/10/sachsida-e-o-favorito-de-jair-bolsonaro-para-comandar-fazenda-em-eventual-governo-flavio.shtml), a lawyer and economist who served in the elder Bolsonaro's government.

Lula is campaigning on his trade record. He told reporters that [he believes Brazil will reach an agreement with the United States on tariffs](https://www.infomoney.com.br/politica/lula-diz-acreditar-em-acordo-com-eua-sobre-tarifas-mas-nao-descarta-reciprocidade/) but would not rule out reciprocal measures. He said trade with the United States fell while Brazil's trade with other markets grew. The opposition campaign faces its own pressure. Folha reported that a federal police investigation found that an online betting company owned by a lawyer under investigation in a social-security fraud case [paid for Flávio Bolsonaro's flights in Europe](https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/mercado/2026/10/bet-de-investigado-por-fraude-do-inss-pagou-voos-de-flavio-bolsonaro-na-europa.shtml) in 2025.

## What this means

Moving from 44 to 40 hours at the same pay raises hourly labor costs by about 10% for workers on full schedules. Retail, food service and small firms, which rely most on the six-day schedule, will bear most of that cost. It will feed into services inflation at a time when Brazil's central bank is already fighting imported energy inflation. The exposed assets are the real and the local interest-rate curve, which trade on fiscal and inflation credibility more than on the winner's identity. Both candidates' coalitions supported the measure, so the vote reveals the shared limits on fiscal and labor reform in Brazil more than either side's program. The precedent is the 1988 constitution, which reduced the work week from 48 to 44 hours and was followed by a long period of high inflation, though many other causes contributed. The likelier outcome is that markets react within days of the runoff to the named economic team rather than to the result alone. A finance minister who commits to the fiscal framework would narrow local risk premiums under either winner. That depends on the lower house passing the work-week change without offsetting tax relief for employers. It would be proved wrong if the real weakens after the vote regardless of who is appointed, which would show that investors expect the labor change to raise inflation under any government.

## What to watch

- Whether the Chamber of Deputies takes up the work-week bill before or after the runoff. Passage before October 25 would make the cost a fact for the next government to absorb.
- The name of each campaign's finance minister. A confirmed fiscal team would move Brazil's local bond yields more than the poll numbers.
- Progress in the US-Brazil tariff talks. A deal before the vote would help Lula on trade, while US retaliation would hurt exporters regardless of the result.