What Your Doctor's Note for Amazon Leave Must Actually Say
When DLS (Amazon's Disability and Leave Services) sends a note back, it's usually about documentation, not doubt — the note doesn't spell out what the form asks for. Here's what a certification has to include, and what Certicare's licensed clinician writes.
Published by Certicare — an independent paid service, not affiliated with Amazon. Amazon makes the final decision on leave requests.
Start my intakeWhy did DLS call your doctor's note "insufficient documentation"?
Most doctor's notes are written to excuse an absence to a manager, not to answer what a leave certification asks. "Patient needs time off work for medical reasons" tells a manager enough and tells DLS nothing it can act on: no dates, no restrictions, nothing tied to the job. That gap is usually what sends a note back, and the clock keeps running while it does.
This page walks through what a certification has to contain. It's what a clinician documents about a real condition, from your history and any records — not a checklist you fill in yourself.
What does DLS look for in the certification?
The list below is what the federal FMLA rules require a provider to document in a medical certification like the Health Care Provider Form. A Physician Statement or Leave-as-an-Accommodation paperwork asks for much of the same core information, though the exact requirements vary by form and by whether your case runs as FMLA, a medical leave, or an accommodation.
A clinician documents:
- The provider's name, practice, and contact information.
- When the condition began, even approximately, and how long it's expected to last.
- The medical facts behind the restriction. A diagnosis can help but isn't required; what matters is how the condition affects the work.
- That the patient cannot perform specific essential job functions. For a warehouse role, that usually means limits on lifting, on standing or walking, and on safety around powered equipment like forklifts, order pickers, or conveyor lines.
- That leave is medically necessary, and for how long: continuous, or the reduced schedule the condition calls for.
- If the leave is intermittent, an estimate of how often flare-ups happen, how long each one lasts, and why the intermittent schedule is medically necessary.
When an applicable item is left blank, DLS reads the certification as incomplete. When the entries are there but vague or nonresponsive, it reads as insufficient. Either one sends it back, whatever form it's on.
Anatomy of a complete certification
A vague note vs. an adequate one
Here's the same case, documented two ways. It's an illustrative example — the condition and the numbers are hypothetical, not a template to copy or medical advice. It shows the difference between a note written to excuse an absence and a certification written to answer what the form asks.
“Patient needs time off work for medical reasons. Please excuse absences until further notice.”
“Patient under care for lumbar disc herniation with left-sided radiculopathy; symptoms began about three weeks before this certification. Because of the condition, the patient cannot perform the essential functions of their warehouse role: no lifting, pushing, or pulling over 10 pounds, and no standing or walking more than 20 minutes without a seated break. A sedating medication makes operating powered equipment unsafe. Continuous leave is medically necessary, with an expected duration of six to eight weeks and re-evaluation at that point.”
Both descriptions could describe the same patient. Only one gives DLS the specifics its form is asking for.
Why "insufficient documentation" isn't about which form you used
When DLS says your documentation is "insufficient," it usually comes down to one of two problems. The paperwork is incomplete when an applicable entry is left blank. It's insufficient when the entries are there but the information is vague, unclear, or nonresponsive. Either way DLS asks for more, and neither one means you used the wrong form.
Using the DLS form is often the clearest way to give every item requested and cut down on follow-up, since it's built around the same information. The harder problem is upstream of the form: a clinician who never sees the DLS form, or the list of what it asks for, tends to write a note built for an employer's HR file instead.
An RFI is a request for additional information. It can follow any DLS form, and it usually means DLS wants specifics it doesn't have yet, not that your request was denied.
What intermittent leave needs: frequency and duration
Some conditions don't take a worker out for one continuous stretch. They flare, then ease, on their own schedule — a migraine disorder or a flare-based autoimmune condition are common examples.
For those cases, the rules ask the clinician for an estimate, not a guarantee: how many episodes to expect in a given period, how long a typical episode lasts, and why the intermittent schedule is medically necessary. When the pattern is unpredictable, the standard is the clinician's best-informed medical judgment, not a number invented after the fact.
That estimate is what lets an intermittent certification cover future flares in advance, instead of documenting each one after it happens.
What Certicare's licensed clinician documents
A state-licensed provider reviews your questionnaire answers and any records you share, then completes and signs the exact form DLS requested. Most cases are handled through the questionnaire; occasionally the provider follows up with a short call or a few clarifying questions before signing.
Most certifications arrive by email within 24 hours of us having everything we need. Direct delivery to DLS is available after you complete an authorization. Questions before you start? hello@certicare.org.
Secure online intake. Your information is reviewed by Certicare and is not sent to Amazon without your authorization.
$49 covers this request: clinical review, the DLS form it needs, and any DLS verification, clarification, or corrections on that form — no additional charges. A later extension, return-to-work form, new condition, or other additional form is a separate request with its own fee. If your form hasn't been delivered yet, you can request a full refund.
Certicare is not affiliated with Amazon. Amazon makes the final decision on leave and accommodation requests. This page is general information about the leave process, not legal advice.
Founded by someone who's been there
Rebecca Martel, APRN, FNP-BC, is a family nurse practitioner who has completed hundreds of these forms. As a neurodivergent person who lost jobs to cyclical burnout early in her career, she knows what's at stake when paperwork stalls.
You don't have to write any of this yourself. Start your intake, and a licensed clinician documents it after reviewing your case.
Start my intakeCerticare is not affiliated with Amazon. Amazon makes the final decision on leave and accommodation requests. This page is general information about the leave process, not legal advice.