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.
Dan Davis serves as Director, IoT and Emerging Markets for Insurance. Dan has been with LexisNexis Risk Solutions since 2016, where he leads the creation of the value proposition, strategy and positioning for the LexisNexis IoT platform across Life, Home and Commercial. His insurance experience includes leadership roles in claims, business development and strategic technology initiatives in the P&C market. Dan has also served LexisNexis through strategic partnership management in the emerging markets and software platform space. Dan has a bachelor’s degree in Business from Louisiana State University.
David Fanger is a senior vice president in the financial institutions group at Moody's Investors Service.
Quyen Truong is a partner at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP, with decades of expertise in consumer protection, privacy and digital innovation. She's previously held senior roles at the CFPB (assistant director and deputy general counsel), the FDIC, a deputy at the FSOC and a FCC's associate bureau chief. Truong helps organizations confronting a rapidly evolving environment interpret, influence and comply with the law, through all phases of federal and state regulation, supervision and enforcement.
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:
