Calling out sick at Amazon

How do you call out sick at Amazon?

Amazon's public policy sheet for US Customer Fulfillment, last updated October 10, 2023, says "Report your UPT absence on A to Z." It describes Unpaid Time (UPT) as time Amazon provides "to cover unexpected absences", and says Paid Personal Time (PPT) "can be used for any reason, including sickness".

The sheet puts the reporting step in A to Z. Do it before your shift starts, as early as you can. Which time-off bucket a sick day comes out of, and your current balances, are on your A to Z time-off screens and in your site's attendance policy.

The message itself is short. You're sick. You won't be in today. When you expect to be back, or that you'll update them. Anything urgent that needs handing off. How to say it, whether to call or message, and whether you owe anyone a reason are covered in our guide to how to call out of work sick.

Does Amazon require a doctor's note?

Amazon's public policy sheet and its public benefits page say nothing about a doctor's note for a sick day. Whether a note is asked for comes from the attendance policy that applies at your site, and, where one applies, from a state or city sick-leave law. The sheet itself refers you to the UPT policy and to A to Z for the current rules.

An employer is allowed to ask. In its guidance on disability-related inquiries, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) says an employer "may ask an employee to justify his/her use of sick leave by providing a doctor's note or other explanation, as long as it has a policy or practice of requiring all employees, with and without disabilities, to do so."

If a note is asked for, the $29 Certicare note is built for this: a mild, self-limiting condition, up to 3 scheduled workdays, with a limit of 6 days in any 30-day window. You answer a short online intake, usually no appointment. A state-licensed provider reviews it, and may follow up, or decide a note isn't appropriate; if the note isn't written, the $29 is refunded in full.

Payment buys the evaluation, not a particular answer. If the note is written, it's completed and signed by a state-licensed provider, dated the day it is written, and kept private and never sent to your employer or school without your say-so.

If the days are already behind you, that's fine. A note written today can cover days you already missed, up to 45 days back, where the evaluation supports it. How that works is on doctor's note for days already missed.

Does a doctor's note give your UPT back?

The public policy sheet says "UPT is automatically applied when you miss any part of your scheduled shift, unless you have applied for another time off." It does not say that a doctor's note changes how UPT is applied.

What a note does is document the absence: for your own records, and for a manager who asked for one. If your UPT is running low or has gone negative, our guide to negative UPT at Amazon is the next read.

What if you're sick for more than a few days?

Then it may be a leave question rather than a note question. The $29 note covers up to 3 scheduled workdays for a mild condition; an absence longer than a few days, or one tied to a serious condition, may call for the $49 Amazon DLS forms, a different product on its own timeline. Whether yours counts is covered on what counts as a serious health condition.

At Amazon, leave runs through Disability and Leave Services (DLS). What DLS is, and how FMLA works at Amazon, are covered in our guides to Amazon DLS and FMLA at Amazon.

Can Amazon fire you for calling out sick?

There is no general federal right to sick leave. Where protection exists, it comes from a law that fits the situation, such as the FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act), the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), or a state or local sick-leave law. Which one applies, if any, depends on the facts.

What a sick day counts as comes from the attendance policy. Whether a low or negative UPT balance can cost you the job is answered on our negative UPT page. If it happened while you were on approved leave, see fired or marked no-show on approved Amazon leave. If you handed in a note and it was turned down, see when an employer denies a doctor's note.

Send the message first. If a note is asked for, answer the intake questions, and a state-licensed provider reviews them and signs the note where the evaluation supports it.