Currently, professional and administrative employees are exempt from overtime regulations, which means that employers can (and often do) require any amount of hours above 40 for free, but if the employee works less than 40, he/she is docked (or must supply time off hours such as vacation).
By requiring that all employees be compensated, even if it were by straight time or comp time to be taken later, it would result in more job creation (two employees both working 60 hours would be the same as three working 40), and would be an immediate boost to the family income of the besieged middle class.
As our economy has shifted from manufacturing to service, more and more employees are now classified as "hourly exempt" and the old management/line worker distinction has become largely obsolete.