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.
Rina Wulfing is the policy and campaigns manager in North America for Wise. Based in New York City, she advocates for policies that further the mission of money without borders: instant, convenient, transparent and eventually free. Prior to Wise, she worked on financial services policy for two members of Congress, most recently for Congressman Denny Heck of Washington State as his chief of staff.
Greg Sanderson is COO of AlignRx, a pharmacy benefit consultancy that is part of Goodroot, a community of companies reinventing healthcare one system at a time.
Beth Bafford is vice president, syndications and strategy, at Calvert Impact Capital.
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:
