MACON, Ga. — Ashley Tharpe says she called out of work on Monday.
"I told my officer manager I wasn't feeling good over the weekend, that maybe I had just caught a bug," she says.
"On Tuesday, I asked if I could come back to work, I was feeling better, and they said no, I had to be tested for COVID before I could come back," says Tharpe.
What she didn't realize is it could take at least seven business days for her to get results.
She says her employer told her these days off would be unpaid.
"The health department told me five to seven business days. That's the end of next week. What am I supposed to do? I have kids, I have bills," she says.
Tharpe says when she asked her job to file for unemployment for her, she was told no.
So we asked, is your job supposed to take action for you if you're forced to wait for COVID-19 test results?
Financial advisor Sherri Goss says the answer is yes.
"The key is workers who are unable to work due to the COVID health emergency who have an expectation of turning to work when the emergency ceases should be considered involuntarily unemployed through no fault of their own," she says.
Although Tharpe filed on her own, Goss says her employer will still have to step in for her to get the funding.
"The employer would be required to file partial claims when they have employees. They're gonna have to do something," says Goss.
We reached out to Tharpe's employer and left a message for management.
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