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.
Stuart Winchester is the founder & CEO of Marble. Founded in 2020, Marble is a one-hub, digital wallet that allows members to shop, compare, explore, pay, and - for the first time ever - earn rewards on their insurance premium payments. Prior to Marble, Stuart worked as the General Manager, Insurance Product at Better.com. Before Better.com, Stuart led General Assembly's flagship New York campus where he oversaw one of the largest technical and design communities in the city.
Danny Estrada, MBA, is the director of enterprise solutions at Introhive. He focuses on helping organizations realize their growth and sales goals through leveraging AI and relationship intelligence. He has over 20 years of experience as a CRM practitioner and management consultant focused on the deployment and adoption of CRM platforms.
Monster found that 73% of men do not think there is a pay difference with their female coworkers.
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:
