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.
Xavier Larduinat is manager for innovation at Gemalto.
Mark Bartlett is chief experience officer at FPX.
Ken Hosac is the vice president, IoT strategy at Cradlepoint. Ken is responsible for driving strategic industry partnerships to accelerate the company’s market growth and leadership. As part of the leadership team since 2009, Ken has helped drive Cradlepoint’s growth and development through roles in strategic planning, product management, solution strategy and thought leadership. Ken frequently represents the company at industry conferences and events, and served on the original Advisory Board for the IoT/M2M Evolution Magazine. Ken has 25 years of experience in marketing, sales, R&D and manufacturing. Ken holds a B.S. degree in electrical engineering and an M.S. degree in manufacturing engineering, both from Stanford University.
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:
