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.
Ryan McMahon has been passionate about tech innovation in the insurance industry since his early professional days. His first exposure to the insurance industry was in claims where he had the opportunity to work with various agents, policyholders and claimants. In his five years with Plymouth Rock Assurance, Ryan worked on a team that was deeply committed to reducing crashes, introducing a telematics-based rewards program to help incentivize safer driving. Ryan brings that same passion and commitment to his work with CMT - leading teams on the development of a platform that leverages AI and telematics to improve driving behavior and dramatically reduce the number of accidents on the road.
What is real and unreal about the times we're living through may have become hard to differentiate for many of us.
The Trump administration said it’s recovered almost 70 percent of $1.6 billion in relief payments mistakenly sent to dead people.
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:
