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.
Ayalla Reuven-Lelong is a leading expert on the topic of the future of the workplace and the author of "Riding the White-Water Rapids, the Story of My Success at KPMG." For the past 12 years, she has served as an external consultant for KPMG. She was involved in the design and implementation of many of the firm’s strategic processes that were led by senior partners and mainly related to people and growth. Her work targeted the development of soft strategies within employees, leaders, and senior management in order to create a culture of a growth mindset and prepare the firm for continued success in our fast-changing reality.
Paul DeChant, MD, is a deputy chief health officer with Simpler Healthcare, a division of IBM Watson Health. His book, Preventing Physician Burnout: Curing the Chaos and Returning Joy to the Practice of Medicine, was published in December 2016.
Ann Marie O’Brien, R.N., is national director of health strategies at UnitedHealthcare
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:
