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.
Curtis Brazzell is a managing security consultant at Pondurance, a provider of managed detection and response security services.
Bob Bastian is Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Prudential Individual Life Insurance and Annuities businesses. Bastian leads industry experts in creating modern digital and technology solutions, crucial for serving customer needs in a rapidly evolving financial technology landscape. Bastian drives comprehensive changes across multiple dimensions including culture, talent, organization, process and architecture which have dramatically improved time-to-market, reduced cost and established sustainability for future growth. Bastian joined Prudential in 1999 and has spent the majority of his time as part of the Life business. In this role he was instrumental in the successful onboarding of the Hartford business, leading over 25 cross functional teams toward a seamless integration.
Amaresh Tripathy is global business leader, analytics, at Genpact, a global professional services firm focused on delivering digital transformation.
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:
