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.
Dr. Jon Leizman is chief medical officer at Premise Health, which operates more than 650 wellness centers in 44 states and Guam for some of the largest commercial and municipal employers in the United States, including companies like Quicken Loans, Discovery, and Shaw Industries, a Berkshire Hathaway company. He previously served as the medical director of Cleveland Clinic at Work, where he led business and medical operations for multiple worksite health and occupational medicine centers.
David is the Co-founder and CEO of Lyra Health, a leading provider of innovative mental health benefits for more than 1.3 million U.S. employees and dependents, including organizations such as Starbucks, Zoom, Genentech, Morgan Stanley and Pinterest.
Maddy Simpson is a reporter for Employee Benefit News and Employee Benefit Adviser. Contact her at madeline (dot) simpson (@) arizent (dot) com.
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:
