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.
Chris Shafer is senior director of talent acquisition at Platform Accounting Group, a collective of more than 35 local accounting firms across the United States.
Marcy Klipfel is the Chief Engagement Officer at Businessolver, a leading benefits administration technology platform. There, she oversees recruiting, training, compensation, benefits, succession planning, organizational design, compliance, performance management, and driving a high-performance culture. Annually, Businessolver conducts the State of Workplace Empathy Study with a national audience of CEOs, HR leaders, and employees. Learn more at www.businessolver.com/workplace-empathy.
Allen Puwalski is the managing partner & CIO of Cybiont Capital and a member of the board of Flagstar Financial. He has previously served as chief of bank analysis at the FDIC's Division of Insurance, led the global financial team at CFRA and was a financial sector specialist at Paulson & Co. He is a chartered financial analyst.
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:
