労働安全衛生規則
Reagan appointed Donovan the Secretary of Labor on February 4, 1981. Under his stewardship, he reduced the department's staff and budget, reduced regulations on businesses through changes in the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) enforcement practices, revised the Davis–Bacon rules, modified Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) rules, created new industrial homework rules, and revised the federal compliance regulations.