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.
Raymond DePaola brings more than 30 years of experience to the position of director of underwriting. He supports Corporate Synergies’ benefits consulting staff and account management teams with expert reviews and analyses of carrier rate renewal actions. He participates in rate negotiations, projects pre-renewal estimates and self-funded plan costs, and provides underwriting guidance to clients.
Bruce Orcutt is senior vice president of global marketing for ABBYY, which provides intelligent capture solutions. He is responsible for the market strategy of ABBYY’s complete range of AI-based technologies and solutions that transform business documents and content into business value.
Todd Linden is CEO of payment processing for North America at Paysafe.
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:
