Exclusive survey by the Bruno Pinheiro column shows 2,335 proposals filed since 2023 and exposes the clash between reducing and making working hours more flexible
Exclusive survey of Bruno Pinheiro columnbased on official data from the Chamber of Deputies, shows that, since the beginning of the current legislature, in 20232,335 proposals related to working hours were filed. The volume reveals that the topic is no longer a one-off issue but has become one of the main areas of political dispute in Congress.
The cross-analysis of the propositions indicates the formation of three distinct currents. The first, led mainly by parliamentarians from left-wing and center-left parties, concentrates initiatives that defend the structural reduction of weekly working hours. Among them is the PEC 8/2025, which proposes the adoption of a four-day weekin addition to projects aimed at ending the 6×1 scale and limiting work on Saturdays. More than half of these proposals were presented from 2024 onwards, a movement that coincides with the anticipation of the 2026 electoral debate.
In the opposite camp, parties like PL, Novo, União Brasil and Republicans concentrate proposals that defend greater contractual flexibility. PEC 40/2025, which allows optional regimes based on hours worked, is the main example of this axis. Although the absolute number of initiatives is smaller than in the reduction block, constitutional or complementary amendment projects predominate, which demonstrates a strategy aimed at structural changes in the labor model.
The third group deals with the regulation of work on digital platforms. Projects such as PLP 240/2025 and PL 5547/2025, which create guidelines for work by applications and establish a specific status for these workers, gather transversal support. The proportional growth of this axis since 2023 reflects the advancement of the digital economy and the increase in legal disputes over employment relationships.
Os data indicate that the conflict is not restricted to weekly workloadbut involves different views on the role of the State in organizing the labor market. While supporters of the reduction associate the measure with improving quality of life and redistributing jobs, opponents warn of possible economic impacts and increased costs. The predominance of proposals that require constitutional amendment also reduces the probability of approval in the short term, but increases the political use of the topic.
With 2,335 initiatives registered in just over two years, the working hours has consolidated itself as one of the most mobilizing agendas of the current legislature. As the electoral calendar approaches, the tendency is for the debate to advance from the technical level to the center of the political dispute, transforming the discussion about hours worked into one of the structuring axes of the 2026 election.
*This text does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Jovem Pan.
