Employees working from home during the coronavirus pandemic claimed some outlandish expenses this year, including pricey exercise bikes, facelifts and private jets.
Emburse, an expense management software company, released a compilation Wednesday of some of the craziest expenses it has seen claimed this year, some of which were actually approved. That included $1,895, which was approved as a contribution for an employee's Peloton Bike under the explanation of “for health and wellness.” On the other hand, a $7,600 expense claim for a facelift was submitted under the category of “repairs and maintenance” but was rejected, despite the pressing need to look one’s best during a Zoom meeting.
Glenn Yago is senior director of the Milken Innovation Center at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. He teaches financial innovations at Hebrew University and UC Berkeley and is a senior fellow and founder of the Milken Institute's Financial Innovations Lab.
Ed Bodey is general counsel at Exclaimer, a global SaaS company, where he advises on commercial, regulatory, and governance matters across multiple markets. With nearly two decades of experience, he has built his career working with technology companies at every stage of growth, developing deep expertise in company and commercial law, intellectual property, financial services, and employment. He has been recognized by Chambers and Partners as "everything you want in a commercial lawyer" and by Legal 500 as "a trusted advisor who is a pleasure to work with."
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Some expenses weren’t for working from home, but more about getting out of the house safely. An expense claim for a private jet charter costing over $20,000 was submitted and approved under the explanation of “required to limit COVID exposure for international shoots.” Another travel-related expense claim was $2,500 for a helicopter ride, which was not approved.
The $79 expense claim for a dog crate could perhaps be used for travel at some point when that's safer, but in these times it was more plausibly to provide "crate training [for] a new COVID puppy to not run into Zoom meetings."
Below is an infographic produced by Emburse showing this and several other head-scratching claims:
