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.
Mike Dwyer brings 20 years of technical, architectural, and managerial experience in the insurance and telecommunications industries to his roles at EIS. Mike manages an engineering organization of more than 200 people in the United States and abroad, and plays a key role in designing, implementing, and successfully deploying the company's insurance software solutions to customers around the globe. Prior to joining EIS, Mike held a variety of engineering architecture and management roles for established and startup companies, including Sprint Corp., Interwave Communications, and Motorola.
Orson Aguilar is president of the Greenlining Institute.
Ankit Kumar is manager of digital payments and mobile financial services at Gemalto.
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:
