No doubt, such complaints will garner plenty of guffaws from those familiar with what the executives at such companies are making. Plus, even if junior employees are not worked as hard as they were in the past, it seems logical that eventually companies will be forced to promote them to fill the place of senior employees who retire.

David Manson, a TV producer, says what a lot of employers are thinking but haven’t said: Many companies, particularly smaller ones, will probably just ignore the rules.

“There may be a certain amount of a wink-and-nod approach to it,” he says. “Most people want desperately to get in any way they can.”

In such a competitive environment, many young employees dare not demand overtime, for fear of being replaced or viewed as ungrateful. Indeed, Lauren Weisberger, the author of “The Devil Wears Prada,” a semi-autobiographical account of her days working for Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue, says it never occurred to her to ask for overtime pay when she was working 12-hour days for what amounted to less than minimum wage. Nor does she imagine that other staffers demanded overtime from Conde Nast, the multi-billion dollar company that owns Vogue.

Ironically, it is a former Bush administration official, Tony Fratto, who now runs a PR firm in Washington D.C., Hamilton Place, who is supportive of the new change. He says that his industry often overworks and abuses young staffers.

“I’ll be happy for everyone in town having a slightly better quality of life,” he said.