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.
Demetrios Zamboglou is COO of BABB.
George A. Saitta, Jr., is a managing director in the Forensic & Litigation Consulting segment of FTI Consulting Inc. He is based in Washington, D.C.
Wendy Foote iis a senior contracts manager at WhiteHat Security in San Jose, CA. Her background includes HIPPA regulatory compliance program management, privacy, and a variety of responsibilities within the Office of the General Counsel at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. She is a graduate of California State University, Chico and has a CIPP/US certification.
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:
