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The Coffee Lab chain, based in São Paulo, adopted the 4×3 schedule among its employees eight months ago. According to businesswoman Isabela Raposeiras, owner of the business, the chain’s revenue rose 35% last year, transport costs fell, and no operational worker had a salary reduction during the adaptation period.
The discussion about the end of the 6×1 schedule in Brazil gained a practical chapter that has been attracting attention among entrepreneurs in the retail and services sector. The Coffee Lab chain of coffee shops and coffee school, based in São Paulo, adopted the 4×3 schedule eight months ago and reports positive results for both the company and employees during the implementation period.
Businesswoman Isabela Raposeiras, owner of the business, states that the change brought measurable gains in operation. According to her, revenue grew 35% last year, transport costs fell, and no worker in the chain had a salary cut, statements that have not yet been accompanied by public accounting disclosure by the company and should be treated as a business case, not as independent research.
How the 4×3 schedule works in practice
The model applied by Coffee Lab operates with four days of work followed by three consecutive days off. The chain’s units are open every day of the week, but with rotating teams, an organization that ensures continuous business operation without increasing the individual working hours of each employee.
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The daily routine also underwent specific adjustments to make the model viable. The chain’s coffee shops operate from 9 AM to 6 PM in a single shift, with all employees entering and leaving together, a format that reduces the complexity of the schedule and facilitates daily operational control.
The daily workload is less than ten hours, considering one hour for lunch and breaks provided by labor legislation. This design requires high operational efficiency during the period when the team is present, as service needs to happen within a more concentrated window than in chains operating on traditional schedules.
An important observation about the scope of the change within the company is worth noting. The 4×3 schedule was implemented only in customer service units, and internal areas such as the office and roasting sector still operate on a 5×2 schedule, although the businesswoman states that these teams are also expected to migrate to the new model soon.
The numbers reported by the businesswoman
Coffee Lab’s main claim involves the financial growth of the business during the period of adopting the new model. According to Isabela Raposeiras, the chain’s revenue increased by 35% last year, including an improvement in the business’s profit margin.
The data is presented as a direct statement from the businesswoman. Coffee Lab has not published audited financial statements that prove the growth attributed to the schedule change, a situation that makes the number a relevant claim for the debate, but one that needs to be contextualized as business information without external accounting verification.
Another point highlighted by the business owner involves operational savings. Transport costs reportedly fell after the implementation of the 4×3 schedule, as each employee travels fewer times per week to the workplace, a reduction that benefits both employees’ budgets and any subsidies offered by the company.
The businesswoman also states that the number of stores and the number of employees in the chain remain the same after the change. For Raposeiras, the only significant alteration came in the internal organization of processes and the pursuit of greater operational efficiency, adjustments considered essential so that the new model would not burden the business’s cash flow during the initial adaptation period.
Causality between schedule and growth requires caution
It is important to note that correlation does not necessarily mean causality in this type of discussion. The fact that revenue increased by 35% in the same period that the company adopted the 4×3 schedule does not automatically prove that the new work model was directly responsible for the business’s financial growth.
Other variables may have contributed to the reported result. Marketing campaigns, changes in the economic context, a specific increase in demand in the gourmet coffee shop sector, or other operational factors may have influenced performance without any direct relation to the employees’ journey at the service counter.
The businesswoman herself, however, attributes a good part of the result to the change. For Raposeiras, the fact that workers operate with greater well-being directly contributes to increased productivity and improved quality of service provided to the network’s customers in São Paulo during these eight months.
Without independent data confirming this relationship, the safest interpretation is to treat the case as a relevant business example for the ongoing public debate. Coffee Lab offers a practical experiment that deserves monitoring by economists, labor relations specialists, and other business owners interested in the topic of reduced working hours in Brazilian retail.
The businesswoman’s view on the impact on workers’ lives
Isabela Raposeiras had already worked 12-hour shifts in other jobs before founding Coffee Lab. This personal experience directly influenced the decision to test an alternative model within her own company, as the businesswoman reports in interviews given to specialized press.
For her, the most significant gain from the 4×3 schedule is outside the financial spreadsheet. Employees stopped spending two or three hours a day on public transport on several days of the week, an achievement that allows free time for rest, personal activities, and family life within each professional’s weekly routine.
The businesswoman argues that this well-being ultimately reflects in performance within the store. Rested employees would have more energy for service, deal better with customers, and offer a more pleasant shopping experience, which, according to her, would contribute to the increase in sales recorded by the network in the recent period.
It is worth noting that these statements come exclusively from the businesswoman. A more complete report on the case could include testimonials from the employees themselves about their perception of the new model, a situation that would enrich the public debate on the real gains of the 4×3 schedule for those at the forefront of operations in Brazilian retail during these changes.
The debate on ending the 6×1 schedule in Congress
Coffee Lab’s experience takes place amidst a national discussion that continues to advance in the Brazilian Congress. Three main proposals are under analysis in the committees of the Chamber of Deputies and are expected to reach the plenary in the coming months for a definitive vote.
The first is Bill 1838/26, presented by the federal government. The proposal reduces the standard working week from 44 to 40 hours, guarantees two days of rest, and prohibits salary cuts during the transition to the new work model nationwide.
The second initiative is a Constitutional Amendment Proposal presented by Congresswoman Erika Hilton, from PSOL of São Paulo. This text specifically focuses on ending the 6×1 schedule, a model quite common in sectors such as commerce, food, and services, constituting one of the most sensitive points of discussion among representatives of the business sector.
The third proposal is a PEC (Constitutional Amendment Proposal) presented by Congressman Reginaldo Lopes, from PT of Minas Gerais. This text suggests a gradual reduction of the working day, a format that tries to find an intermediate path between the demands of workers and business concerns about the economic impact on different sectors of the current Brazilian economy.
What to expect from the continuation of the debate
Specialists and union representatives have highlighted that rest time is considered a central factor for job security and respect for the individual within the work environment. The proposals remain under analysis in special committees before the plenary vote, with an still uncertain timeline among the parliamentarians involved in the topic.
The business sector usually presents a different view on the matter. Company representatives argue that reducing working hours can increase operational costs, reduce competitiveness, and put pressure on job vacancies, especially in small and medium-sized companies that operate with tight margins in different sectors of national retail.
Coffee Lab’s specific experience serves as an example of voluntary application in a specific market niche. The case of a high-end coffee shop chain in São Paulo, however, may not necessarily reflect what would happen in other economic segments, such as heavy industry, agribusiness, popular commerce, or large-scale services with a different volume of employees.
The continuation of the public debate will depend both on the processing in Congress and on the practical experience of other companies that decide to test alternative formats. Each new case helps to calibrate the discussion and provide real data for parliamentarians, unions, entrepreneurs, and workers directly involved in the future of the Brazilian work journey in different sectors of the economy in the coming years.
And you, would you work for a company that adopts the 4×3 schedule with three days off per week, or do you prefer the traditional 5×2 model with two days of rest each week? Do you believe this type of change can really improve productivity in Brazilian retail?
Tell us in the comments if you support the end of the 6×1 schedule under discussion in Congress, if you work in a sector that could benefit from different workdays, and how you imagine this transformation would affect the Brazilian economy in general. The discussion helps to understand how Brazilian workers and consumers view this debate, which could reshape the relationship between work time and quality of life in the coming years throughout the country.
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