One sign that it's not onerous, or a mess is that few people even realize that pay equity is in force for private enterprise.  

Pay equity is not in place to address barriers to employment; it's there to address inequalities in pay levels and undervaluation of women's work.  And that's still a problem.  Odd that you say supply and demand solves the problem . . . but not for disabled and minorities.

By the way, jumping from an exempt level to an included level is a phenomenon in many contexts.  Just in employment law, severance pay and right to unpaid sick leave come to mind.  It's hard to believe they deter any serious employers from expanding.