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.
Madhura Chakrabarti leads the People Analytics and Employee Engagement research practices at Bersin by Deloitte. Previous to joining Bersin by Deloitte, Madhura worked for Dell Technologies, where she led the annual global engagement survey for 110,000 employees; culture assessments for mergers and acquisitions; and several people analytics studies. Subsequently, she also served as the Organizational Development (OD) Strategist for Global Operations and Client Solutions, the largest business unit where she led and supported multiple talent management initiatives for the business. Prior to Dell, Madhura worked for Ford Motor Company and Aon Hewitt where her work focused on design and statistical validation of pre-employment assessments used for hiring.
Jonathan Drew is associate director of legal services at Seal Software. Jonathan has spent the bulk of his career working with technology-focused startups, helping companies develop marketing and product strategies to support new product introductions and entry into new markets. At Seal, Jonathan supports Seal’s efforts in risk and regulation, exploring the various ways Seal’s platform can be leveraged to solve business and regulatory challenges.
Mike Galarza is the CEO and founder of Entryless, a bill pay automation solution.
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:
