The "logic" was that the distinction between salaried work and hourly/daily work is far older than government regulations around worker compensation. The govern

The "logic" was that the distinction between salaried work and hourly/daily work is far older than government regulations around worker compensation. The government did not want to do away with salaried work and convert all employment to hourly wages - maybe they should have! - so it created two classes of law. There was always a horrible gap in this law - though less with educated workers like you suggest, and more blue-collar workers who get promoted to low-paid management. Now that white-collar workers have a more competitive job market, it is affecting us as well.