Should the standard full-time workweek be cut to four days with no pay cut?

I own a restaurant. My staff cannot serve Friday dinner in four days, and I cannot pay five days of wages for four days of covers without raising prices my customers cannot absorb. The famous trials share a flaw: companies volunteered, which means the ones who suspected it would work signed up, and researchers measured the honeymoon period. Nobody ran a randomized trial on a diner, a daycare, or a plumbing company. Until someone shows this working for businesses that cannot compress hours or go remote, 'the standard workweek' is a slogan for about a third of the economy, and the rest of us get the lecture. The margins are brutal: the National Restaurant Association found full-service operators spent a median 36.5% of sales on labor in 2024, and those who let it run higher were far more likely to lose money.