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.
Rod Griffin is senior director of consumer education and advocacy at Experian.
Darin Campana is a Senior Manager of Insurance Consulting for EPAM Continuum. In this role, he provides advisory services to insurance clients through their transformation and modernization journeys. With more than 26 years of experience across consulting and insurance industries, Darin helps clients enable technologies in the disruption of today's insurance markets including intelligent process automation, big data, artificial intelligence (AI), omni-channel applications and IoT.
Steven Tesler is Senior Manager of Insurance Consulting for EPAM Continuum, the integrated business, technology and experience consulting practice of EPAM Systems, Inc. With more than 25 years of experience supporting the Insurance Industry as a Consultant, Technology Strategist, and Solutions Consultant, Steven has a track record of managing cross-functional teams in executing strategic initiatives across the business, finance, operations, and technology from design through implementation.
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:
