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.
Ulf Brüning is Principal and International Client Executive Leader at Global Risk Consultants based in Darmstadt, Germany. He has spent nearly 20 years with the company helping some of the world's most successful businesses identify risks and shape their risk management strategies.
R. Dale Hall, FSA, MAAA, CERA, CFA is Managing Director of Research for the Society of Actuaries Research Institute (SOA). In his role, Dale is responsible for managing research projects and experience studies across the SOA's wide variety of actuarial practice areas and markets and coordinating strategic research partnerships. Additionally, Dale hosts the SOA's Research Insights Podcast and has appeared on behalf of the SOA in a variety of media outlets including NPR, C-SPAN and National Geographic.
Prior to joining the SOA in 2013, Dale spent over 20 years in the US insurance industry, primarily as Chief Actuary for the Life/Health companies of COUNTRY Financial and as an adjunct professor in the actuarial science program at Illinois State University.
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:
