6×1 Scale: What must change for employers and domestic workers

The PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution) that establishes the end of the 6×1 scale was approved in the Chamber of Deputies last Wednesday (27). With this further step taken, the text now goes to the Senate.

If approved and promulgated by the National Congress, the proposal begins its implementation transition, which should happen in a total of 14 months. With the agenda rising, doubts also arise about what should change in the routine of workers and employers.

And although the main discussions are centered on commerce and other most affected sectors, the PEC should also have a direct impact on domestic workers, nannies and caregivers, as well as employers, according to Thiago Santos Leal, lawyer at Ferraz dos Passos Advocacia.

"The change is basically the same for standard CLT workers, as the constitutional amendment equally affects employees subject to the CLT (Consolidation of Labor Laws) and Complementary Law 150/2015 (The so-called 'PEC das Domésticas')", he explains.

This means that the same rules that determine the end of a 6×1 scale for a 5×2 journey will also apply to domestic ones.

"Within a family, which often has just one domestic worker, a caregiver or a nanny, a family reorganization will be necessary", he states.

In this context, according to the lawyer, those who depend on these professionals must adapt.

"In addition, caregivers for the elderly and employees who sleep there could become one of the biggest focuses of legal discussion in the coming years, especially about working hours, rest and time available", he highlights.

The transition will occur in two phases: the first will begin 60 days after the text's promulgation, guaranteeing two days of paid rest per week and reducing working hours from 44 to 42 hours per week.

After 14 months, the working hours will be reduced from 42 to 40 hours per week, maintaining the 5×2 scale, with one of the days off being, preferably, on Sundays. Furthermore, there will be no salary reduction.

However, even if it is approved and promulgated, some categories may be left out of the new rules.

Before the vote in the Chamber, Prates included a substitute in the text providing that workers with remuneration above R$21,100 per month are not obliged to follow the new working hours.

Skaf: End of the 6x1 scale brings legal uncertainty

According to the deputy, workers with high qualifications and training levels need less protection from employers. Therefore, the substitute proposes that employees with this salary range are exempt from the working hours limit rules and day-to-day time control.

The PEC also provides conditions and hypotheses for differentiated regimes through ordinary laws, as long as the established minimum parameters and the possibility of uninterrupted six-hour rotation shifts are respected.

In 12×36 scale regimes and in essential activities, collective work conventions or agreements may provide for compensation mechanisms to ensure, on average, two days of paid weekly rest within the calendar month.

Days off may also be accumulated for use at another time of the month, as long as at least one day of rest is guaranteed after a working week.

The approved text also provides that a complementary law will define transitional rules to reduce the impact of changes on MEIs (individual microentrepreneurs), microenterprises and small businesses.

The proposal also establishes that the rule regarding paid rest will not be applied to public employees of the Union, states, Federal District and municipalities. The Labor Court will be responsible for processing and judging actions related to this rule.

Consequences and place for more informality
According to the lawyer, the debate on the consequences of a change in scale is necessary. Leal warns of the risks of greater informality in domestic work, which only 10 years ago was included in the CLT (Consolidation of Labor Laws).

Complementary Law 150/2015 was enacted in June 2015. According to the Instituto Doméstica Legal, "the PEC das Domésticas represented a milestone in the history of labor rights in Brazil, granting dignity and recognition to professionals in the sector."

Currently, according to data from Pnad Contínua (National Household Sample Survey) from May 2026, 5.4 million Brazilians work as domestic workers, a number that could change with the enactment of the proposal.

"The automation of various functions, outsourcing or pejotization are possible scenarios. Employers may also require greater professional qualifications, as with the increased cost of working hours, employers may become more judicious in promoting new hires, which affects employment opportunities", explains the lawyer.

In addition, the two-year period for implementing the new rules, in the view of domestic employers, can be seen as a short period of time. This, for the labor lawyer, reinforces the idea of a greater chance of informality in the domestic labor market.

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Source: CNN