Is ‘bio break’ the bleakest piece of corporate speak ever?

'If I had the power I would ban it from the vernacular'

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

In today’s label-obsessed culture, there are idiosyncratic terms for even the most banal of activities - including using the toilet at work.

Such is the tacit implication of the term ‘bio break’, used by employers who wish to go about conducting their biological business without explicitly stating as such - it might also refer to getting a glass of water in the name of rehydration.

While the term lacks an official dictionary definition, Merriam Webster describes it as “a short break in a meeting or event so participants can use the restroom,” using the example of Hillary Clinton, who was late returning to the stage during a televised Democratic debate with Donald Trump in 2015 due to an alleged toilet break, something the soon-to-be President duly mocked her for.

If this marks the first time such phrasing has entered your lexicon, you’re behind the times, as bio break has actually been around since the mid-1990s, with WIRED describing it as a “techie euphemism for using the toilet” in 1994.

It’s also fairly widespread on social media, with many actually using it in earnest:

“Observation: We're running into coffee break time - and only 15 min for 150 people to get their hot beverage and do a bio break,” wrote one person on Twitter in the middle of a conference.

“Euphemism of the day: 'bio break' is evidently the new PC way of saying bathroom break. #translation #thingsLawyersSay,” added another.

However, others have lambasted the term, describing the compulsion to mask one’s fundamental bodily behaviours at work as absurd.

“I think ‘bio break’ is possibly the most dismal, dystopian piece of workplace jargon ever invented and if I had the power I would ban it from the vernacular,” wrote one person in a tweet which has been liked more than 300 times.

Fellow users responded with equal disdain, with one offering the term “comfort break” as a “more charming alternative”.

“Yes, it was weird when this started popping up at work,” responded one person, “my former boss' boss told me that she once finished a meeting while in labour (with pride, ugh). I can see the men in the room being like, ‘do you...need...a bio break?’"

As for the term’s origins, some speculate it might’ve been adapted from the online gaming scene, with one person on Twitter referencing World of Warcraft as an original user of the phrasing.

Despite its apparent prevalence online, the term is relatively unknown amongst human resources professionals, with HR manager Elaine Howell telling The Independent she has never once heard it used, although she added that she has come across the term comfort break being used in meetings.

It’s not familiar to Kerry McGowan either, who is managing director at The HR Specialists Consultancy.

“Generally if an employee has a medical or physical issue e.g. a need to use the toilet more often than most, employers are reasonably flexible in this situation,” she told The Independent.

“Long meetings should have regular comfort breaks in any case. If it helps to give the situation ‘special’ terminology to avoid long explanations or because an employee is embarrassed or doesn’t want to have to explain every time then I can see the benefit in that.”