When is National Boss’s Day? The holiday started in Illiois – NBC Chicago

You may know that today is National Boss’s Day (and if you don’t, consider this your head’s up before you go into the office). But you may not know the day honoring your head honcho actually started right here in Illinois.

According to the website National Day Calendar, “National Boss’s Day,” which falls on Wednesday, Oct. 16, “recognizes the hardworking boss overseeing the workplace.”

“Employees across the United States show appreciation and thankfulness to their bosses,” the site said, of the holiday. “They remember their boss’s kindness and fairness throughout the year, too.”

The site goes on to say that when Oct. 16 falls on a weekend, its typical to celebrate on the “closest working day.”

The holiday’s origin story begins in 1958 in suburban Deerfield, the site said, where Patria Bays Haroski worked as a secretary for Illinois-based State Farm Insurance Company.

Bays Haroski, the site said, registered “National Boss’s Day” with the United States Chamber of Commerce to be celebrated Oct. 16.

“She selected October 16th because it was her father’s birthday, and at the time, he was also her employer,” the site said.

In 1962, Illinois’ then Governor Otto Kerner backed the registration and officially proclaimed ‘Boss’s Day,” the story goes. By 1979, Hallmark Cards introduced Boss’s Day cards to their inventory, the site said.