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.
Michelle Westfort, Chief Product Officer at InStride, is a globally recognized leader in post secondary education with over 20 years of experience. An integral member of InStride since its inception in 2019, she brings a bold sense of innovation to drive successful programs and partnerships derived from a humble immigrant family upbringing. Her career has centered around unlocking access to education from high school launch programs to adult career pathways and from digital transformations to workforce skilling. Her work has spanned marketing, business development, program design, and strategy at mission-centric organizations such as The Learning House (acquired by Wiley NYSE: WLY), Pivot, Navias (ASX:NVT) and Education Management Corporation.
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:
