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.
Daniel Stein, MD, MBA is the president and founder of Embold Health, a healthcare technology company redefining quality in healthcare. Previously Chief Medical Officer at Walmart Care Clinics, he has also held health policy roles in Washington, D.C. Stein earned his medical degree at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Ross Sinclair is founder and CEO at EIP. Ross has over four decades of experience in the insurance industry and founded EIP over 20 years ago. As one of the founders of EIP he has helped transition the core business from delivering managed services on device insurance to its position today as a market-leading software provider. Before EIP, Ross was on the insurance board of Carphone Warehouse.
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:
