I've had many salaried jobs and in none of them did I have control over when and where I worked. And if I had 39 hours on my timesheet HR would ask why I didn't add one vacation hour to bring it up to 40. Now if I came in over 40 they didn't complain one bit. I knew what I was getting into when I started, but the vast majority of salaried jobs would be wage jobs if DOL rules were followed strictly.
“I’ve had many salaried jobs and in none of them did I have control over when and where I worked.”
Same here; the wording of the law doesn’t meet the definition of many jobs I’ve worked or seen. By moving up the salary for anyone to be considered “salaried” versus hourly, this rule can only prevent exploitation. Defending companies (which I understand are necessary for an economy to flourish) on this issue is a political minefield. It is addressing one of the issues involved in the discussion about American workers not getting real raises for over a decade.