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.
Paul Holland is Chief Technical Officer of Astadia (an Amdocs company). Prior to joining Astadia, Paul was a Partner in IBM's Financial Services Hybrid Cloud Transformation Practice, specializing in Mainframe Modernization with over 35 years' experience in Application Modernization.
Steve Armstrong is vice president of operations and finance at PTO Exchange, a benefits platform for employees.
Andrew Stocker is the president, employee benefits of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), which helps Americans become well planned, well invested and well protected. Andrew is a seasoned insurance executive with a proven record of leadership and transformation across distribution, marketing, product manufacturing, underwriting, and operations. Stocker currently leads Voya Financial's employee benefits business, inclusive of Benefitfocus.
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:
