Intermittent FMLA at Amazon can protect your UPT — if you report each absence correctly

Because protection isn't automatic. An approved intermittent FMLA leave only covers an absence once you report it as leave through Amazon's process. If a covered flare-up is called in like an ordinary absence, it gets docked from your UPT like any other.

When a covered flare-up keeps you out, report that absence as your approved leave and follow the reporting instructions DLS gave you. That step is what moves the absence onto your leave instead of your regular attendance. Notice is required, so report as soon as you practicably can — a regular call-out alone may not connect the absence to your leave.

Already reported a covered absence correctly and UPT still dropped? That's a correction only DLS can make — contact DLS with your case number, the dates, and screenshots. Certicare completes the provider certification; it can't change your attendance record.

Intermittent FMLA is protected time you draw from when a covered condition flares, instead of taking one long continuous leave. It's built for conditions that come and go — migraines, IBS, epilepsy, anxiety flare-ups, and ongoing therapy. Medical necessity still has to be established, so the leave stays tied to a real, documented condition.

Intermittent leave draws from the same FMLA entitlement, generally up to 12 workweeks in a 12-month period. It's job-protected time, not extra paid time off.

FMLA eligibility comes down to three requirements: 12 months at Amazon, 1,250 hours worked in the past 12 months, and a worksite with 50 or more employees within 75 miles. That hours figure is a little over 24 hours actually worked per week; PTO and leave time generally don't count toward it.

If you're not eligible yet, a medical LOA through DLS doesn't require FMLA eligibility, and neither does Leave as an Accommodation. These don't cancel each other out — FMLA often runs at the same time as a medical LOA or an accommodation.

You don't have to know which form applies. DLS usually needs the Health Care Provider Form, Leave as an Accommodation, or a Physician Statement when it sends an RFI, and a state-licensed provider completes the one DLS asked for after a short online questionnaire — no video visit, returned to you by email.

It's $49 flat for this request, refundable if the form can't be completed or any time before it's delivered. Turnaround is usually within 24 hours after we have everything needed, and DLS follow-up on that form is handled at no additional charge.

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.