President Obama on March 13 signed an order directing the Labor Department to expand the class of employees entitled to overtime pay. Currently, if a salaried employee makes more than $24,000 a year and is part of management—if he manages the business, directs the work of other employees, and has the authority to hire and fire—that employee is exempt from overtime coverage. The president wants to raise this salary threshold, perhaps as high as $50,000, demoting entry-level managers to glorified crew members by replacing their incentive to get results with an incentive to log more hours.

At issue is a growing inequality problem in the United States. Increasingly, Americans don't have the career opportunities most took for granted a decade ago. Many are withdrawing from the labor force, frustrated because they're unable to find a job and lured to depend on government rather than on themselves.

Rewarding time spent rather than time well spent won't help address this problem. Workers who aspire to climb the management ladder strive for the opportunity to move from hourly-wage, crew-level positions to salaried management positions with performance-based incentives. What they lose in overtime pay they gain in the stature and sense of accomplishment that comes from being a salaried manager. This is hardly oppressive. To the contrary, it can be very lucrative for those willing to invest the time and energy, which explains why so many crew employees aspire to be managers.

As the chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants—the parent company of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, among other chains—for the past 13 years, I've seen this phenomenon in action every day. I've watched young men and women enter the labor force in our restaurants. I've seen the pride and determination that leads to success in their careers and lives. Some move on to other jobs and challenges equipped with the experience you can only get from a paying job. Others stay, aspiring to move up to managerial positions. There's nothing more fulfilling than seeing new and unskilled employees work their way up to managing a restaurant.

On average, our general managers each run a $1.3 million business with 25 employees and significant contact with the public. They're in charge of a million-dollar facility, a profit-and-loss statement and the success or failure of a business. If that business succeeds, they benefit just as the owner of a small business would.