The government needs to butt in because this arrangement doesn’t benefit the employer. They would prefer you “clock in” while still receiving a salary exempt pay check.

So, why would they do something that works against them? Think about it. Do you go out of your way to advocate against yourself? No, right? So why would you expect them to do that? It’s just not a reasonable expectation.

Now, they might still do it anyway. Great, but you can’t expect that. So, we need to curb the incentives to get the desired behavior.

It’s just the dynamics of human behavior. Companies aren’t some magical beast - they, too, fact the push and pull of human behavior and incentives.