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.
Jeff Phipps leads ADP's GlobalView organization and operations. ADP GlobalView provides payroll, time & attendance, enterprise HR connectivity and compliance for some of the world's largest and geographically dispersed organizations. Those clients are supported by a team of almost 3,000 dedicated experts in locations across five continents.
Mathieu Beauchesne is Head of Life and Health Insurance at GFT Canada, where he works with leading insurance carriers to transform their operating models into new digital and AI-powered architectures. He has more than a decade of experience in IT consulting in the insurance space, specializing in business architecture, IT strategy development and business analytics.
Dusti Browning is the chief operating officer at Conduit Health Partners.
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:
