Bio Break: Do You Have To Ask Your Boss To Go To Washroom?

Every year, a new word gets added to our vocabulary, whether it be GOAT or dope. Similarly, techie slang has also evolved. Many of us might have heard of the term Bio Break. People working in the information technology sector in India are well acquitted with it. Many women employees purview the term as  "inhumane" and shows the "ninth-grade attitude" of corporates.

Taking a bio break during the work hour at an office or a work from the home situation can range from using the washroom to taking a water break. Employees, generally, are supposed to let their team leads know that they are taking a bio break. In most cases, the leads do not restrict you to do so, as it is the right of an employee.

But in the case of Anisha (name changed as requested) bio break has become one of the reasons why she is leaving her current organisation. The 24-year-old woman works at an IT firm in India. Currently, she is working from home due to the coronavirus induced pandemic.

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Anisha joined the organisation during the pandemic. Thus she never had an opportunity to attend the office physically. She spoke with SheThePeople about how bio break has contributed to her leaving the organisation.

"Why am I supposed to ask? Do you ask your editor before going to the washroom? It is very common that I want to go to the washroom. It can be after five minutes or 15 minutes for any xyz reason. For this reason, why do I need to take permission? I can let somebody know that I am going to the washroom and will be back soon, this is alright. But if I have to ask someone, can I go to the washroom or can I take a bio break and need to wait until the other person replies okay or sure, this is inhumane," Anisha said.

The reason why Anisha felt offended by the term bio break or asking someone before going to the washroom or a water break is that there were times when Anisha was denied her right. She recalls one particular incident where she asked her lead for a bio break and was asked to sit at the desk for at least 35 minutes because the workflow was heavy. "If this happens one time, I can understand. But asking for something which is my right is absurd," she said.

At Anisha's workplace, they are allocated a thirty-minute break and two fifteen minutes breaks. This includes bio breaks as well. Her work time is 10 hours and one hour is the total time for the break which she can divide and take at any point of her shift time.

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"We have a transitioning button that needs to be used if you are going to washroom breaks. You just need to put it on the dashboard that you are unavailable at that time and you can leave. This is called an emergency ox. This has happened many times that on their names mails were sent to higher authorities that how can they take a break without asking. Under emergency ox, we also have bio breaks," she said.

Another woman working with an IT company in India, Diya (name changed as requested) who is 23-year-old, faced similar incidents as Anisha when it comes to breaks and bio breaks. She too has turned in her papers for the same.

Talking about her experience with bio breaks, she said, "At first, I felt awkward to ask because in the team there were not many girls. So asking if I can take a bio break to a man felt awkward for me at first because hey can I go to the washroom felt more like a nine grader thing to do.” Moreover, she added that they questioned her decision to take an emergency break saying, “How can you take an emergency break without telling us. For them, a rule is a rule. This is one of the reasons why I am leaving the company.”

What Is Bio Break?

Even though the word bio break has no official dictionary meaning, Merriam Webster has described it as “a short break in a meeting or event so participants can use the restroom.” According to the site, "Bio break is a word that dates back to the mid-1990s. Wired reported in 1994 that it was 'techie slang for using the bathroom' and while it's become common in some business settings, it's still emerging among general users. We have seen a gradual uptick in its use in recent years."

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Bio break is the short form of biological break and according to Merriam Webster is one of many euphemisms in English for using the restroom.

However, not all employees in the corporate and the IT sector use or face issues when it comes to bio breaks. The 24-year-old Madhura Sawant, who has been working with an IT company in Mumbai for eight months as a junior developer said that in her project, employees are allowed to take breaks whenever they wish too and there is no such term as bio break used.

"In a work from the home situation, there is more pressure to finish the work. The time constraint for a break might be for some other projects in the company, but in my project, we do not have such a constraint. We just need to inform the leads that we will be away from our desk for some time, so if there are any incoming calls, some of my teammates can handle them," said Sawant.

Another IT employee (who does not want to be named) from Mumbai who works as a Software Engineer in Mumbai agrees with Sawant. "It is quite flexible at my place unless you are in client call. Usually, client calls do not extend for more than two hours," she said. Bio Break according to her company rules is a short break to freshen yourself. The time of break is not documented. “I have not heard of anything like that from my friends, we always bicker about the workload but nothing else,” she said.

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Rama Kaushik, who is from the Human Resource department and has worked with IT firms ranging from IT services, AI services, food tech industry to nowadays education technology, also has not witnessed an issue with regards to Bio Break. In all the firms where she has worked at, she said that the work culture was flexible and the focus was always on "delivery of good quality work in time."

"Bio Breaks are not explicitly mentioned or given a separate time for the thing but this has never been an issue. I have been in the HR business since a long time. Once there has been an issue of washroom hygiene, specifically for women, but never an issue regarding never getting bio breaks at many places including offices and business schools," she said.

According to Rama Kaushik, the term 'bio break' has been introduced fairly recently. "Earlier, it was not called bio-break but it did exist. Cannot do without that," she said, adding, "If a person needs to use the washroom or maybe have a water break too then that is called bio break."

In her experience, it is not so explicit because she has been working in firms with an open culture and where it was never a school thing like a person had to ask can if they can go for a bio break. "Things have been really professional that way and never in an office situation, this problem has arisen in my experience," she said.

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Solutions

According to Rama Kaushik, employees are assigned business HR for any kind of query. In case, an employee complains of bio break issues, first, their business HR is informed if they are unable to sort it with the supervisor due to hesitation or any other reason and then they act accordingly depending on the policy of the organisation and the urgency of the complaint registered.

BioBreak issues can be considered urgent, so things can be fast-forwarded. Accordingly, if there is not a policy, Rama Kaushik said that the management can take a call after a discussion on it if they need a policy or it can be sorted through discussion.

"Say if this complaint has come from xyz department and there will be a supervisor who will be responsible for the same. We also have to analyse if the supervisor is aware of such issue. Considering the situation, a policy can be created around it enabling the manager for further management," she said, adding, "Ideally, the name of the complainant is should be kept anonymous."

Views expressed are author's own. If you have a views and would like to share it, write to us at stories@shethepeople.tv