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.
Faryar Shirzad is the chief policy officer of Coinbase.
Carolyn Conners is head of healthcare at Beazley. Since 2011, Carolyn has held several key positions at Beazley, including Focus Group Leader for US Miscellaneous Medical and Life Sciences. Head of Partner Engagement North America, West Region Broker Relations Manager, and Healthcare Management Liability Underwriter.
Ben Accardo is Focus Group Leader - US Safeguard, at Beazley. Prior to this position, he was an underwriter for Safeguard and prior to that was a member of the Executive Risk claims team handling employment practices liability claims and claims involving allegations of sexual abuse under the Safeguard product.
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:
