Boss’s Day – or National Boss Day – is a secular holiday celebrated on October 16 in the United States and Canada. It has traditionally been a day for employees to thank their boss for being kind and fair throughout the year.
National Boss’s Day has become an international celebration in recent years and now is observed in countries such as Australia, India and South Africa and very recently Ireland and the UK. An interesting tidbit of this occasion in India, is that bosses present gifts to their subordinates.
Since this year it falls on a Sunday, most are celebrating on Monday, October 17.
What do people do?
Boss’s Day is dedicated to all employers and provides a prospect of improving the liaison between employers and their staff. Many workers dedicate this day to their supervisors for various reasons, such as supporting staff with their jobs and careers. This observance also gives employees a chance to recognize those in supervisory positions. Some people give their bosses cards, gift certificates, or flowers on Boss’s Day.
History
Patricia Bays Haroski registered “National Boss’s Day” with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 1958. She was working as a secretary for State Farm Insurance Company in Deerfield, Illinois at the time and chose October 8 because she forgot that the birthday of her boss, who was her father, was actually on the 16th. Four years later in 1962, Illinois Governor Otto Kerner backed Haroski’s registration and officially proclaimed the day. Hallmark did not offer a Boss’s Day card for sale until 1979.
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