To return from medical leave at Amazon, your treating healthcare provider completes the Amazon Return to Work Medical Release Form certifying that you can resume your job duties, and you upload the finished document through the Amazon A to Z app or the Disability and Leave Services (DLS) portal before your scheduled return date. The paperwork itself is short. What slows people down is missing signatures, vague restrictions, and submitting too close to the return date.
When Amazon Requires the Form
The most common trigger is a return from leave taken under the Family and Medical Leave Act, which provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for a serious health condition that prevents you from doing your job.1U.S. Department of Labor. FMLA Frequently Asked Questions Federal regulations allow an employer with a uniformly applied policy to require a fitness-for-duty certification before restoring you to your position.2eCFR. 29 CFR 825.312 – Fitness-for-Duty Certification That certification is what this form captures.
You will also need the form after a short-term disability claim paid through Amazon’s insurance, after a continuous medical leave of absence outside FMLA, or after a workplace injury that kept you away from the facility or required professional medical treatment. If your leave was an ADA reasonable accommodation, DLS will require medical documentation before clearing you to return.
How to Get the Form
The form lives in the Amazon A to Z mobile app and the DLS online portal. Log in with your Amazon credentials, open the leave and disability section, and locate your active case. The system generates a personalized version pre-populated with your employee information and case details. Print it or save it as a PDF to bring to your appointment.
If you cannot access the app or portal, contact the Employee Resource Center (ERC) by phone or email DLS directly at amazondls@amazon.com to request the form.3Regulations.gov. Authorization to Obtain and Disclose Information Give yourself at least a week before your return date so your provider has time to complete it.
What Your Provider Needs to Fill In
This is primarily your provider’s document. Your part is checking that your employee ID and contact information are correct in the pre-populated fields, then handing it off. The provider needs to supply:
- A specific calendar return-to-work date. DLS cannot process the clearance without one. A statement like “when symptoms resolve” will not work.
- Any work restrictions or accommodations that apply when you come back. For warehouse roles, this often involves lifting limits, restrictions on repetitive bending or twisting, or a need for more frequent breaks. If you have no restrictions, the provider should explicitly state that you can perform full duties without limitation.
- The provider’s contact information: full name, credentials, office address, and phone number. DLS may contact the provider to clarify the certification.
- A signature and date. The date should fall within the expected return window; a signature from three months ago on a form submitted today will raise questions.
Amazon can require the certification to specifically address whether you can perform the essential functions of your job, but only if the company provided you with a list of those essential functions in your FMLA designation notice.2eCFR. 29 CFR 825.312 – Fitness-for-Duty Certification If you received that list, bring it to the appointment so your provider can address each function directly. The certification can only cover the specific health condition that caused your leave.
Your provider is not required to disclose a specific diagnosis on the form. The certification may include symptoms, treatment information, and functional limitations, but the diagnosis itself is optional.4U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28G – Medical Certification under the Family and Medical Leave Act If your provider prefers not to name the condition, a description of your functional capacity is enough.
Who Can Sign
The form does not have to come from a physician. Authorized healthcare providers under FMLA include doctors of medicine or osteopathy, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, clinical psychologists, clinical social workers, podiatrists, dentists, optometrists, chiropractors (with scope-of-practice limitations), and nurse-midwives, as long as they are licensed in your state and practicing within their scope.5U.S. Department of Labor. Information for Health Care Providers to Complete a Certification under the FMLA If a specialist managed your treatment, that specialist can sign the release. You do not need to loop in your primary care doctor unless they were your treating provider.
Who Pays for the Paperwork
Some providers charge a fee for completing employer-required paperwork, and that cost falls on you. The Department of Labor has confirmed the employee is responsible for the cost of the fitness-for-duty certification.5U.S. Department of Labor. Information for Health Care Providers to Complete a Certification under the FMLA Fees vary. Some offices include it as part of a follow-up visit; others charge a flat paperwork fee. Ask before your appointment.
Submitting the Form
The fastest route is the A to Z app. Open the app, go to the leave and disability section, find your case file, and use the “Upload Document” feature to attach the completed form from your phone’s camera or saved files. Confirm the upload. The system creates a timestamped record that serves as your proof of submission.
If the app is not cooperating, you have three backup options:
- Email: amazondls@amazon.com
- Fax: 1-855-579-1799
- Mail: Amazon Disability & Leave Services (DLS), PO Box 81103, 5801 Postal Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44181
Mail is the slowest option and should be a last resort. If you email or fax, keep the confirmation or transmission receipt. Submit before your intended return date, not on the day you plan to show up for your shift.
After You Submit
A DLS case manager reviews the form, typically within one to two business days. The reviewer checks that the return date is present, restrictions are clearly stated or clearly absent, the provider’s signature and credentials are in order, and the certification matches the health condition on file for your leave case. If everything checks out, your status is updated in the scheduling system.
Confirmation comes through an automated email or a push notification in the A to Z app. Once your status flips to active, badge access at the facility is usually restored automatically, and your name appears on the daily roster for local management. At that point, report for your next scheduled shift.
If the case manager finds problems, like a missing signature, a return date that does not make sense, or restrictions stated too vaguely to act on, they will reach out using the contact information on file. The single most common delay is a provider who lists restrictions without specifying how long they apply. “Light duty for a period of time” means nothing to DLS. “No lifting over 25 pounds for six weeks from June 1” gives them something to work with.
When Restrictions Create Complications
If your provider lists restrictions that conflict with the essential functions of your role, DLS has to determine whether those restrictions can be reasonably accommodated. A temporary lifting limit might mean reassignment to a less physically demanding station. A restriction that eliminates the core of the job, like an inability to stand for an entire shift in a role that requires standing, is harder to accommodate and may result in your leave being extended while options are explored.
Under the ADA, an accommodation is considered reasonable unless it creates an undue hardship for the employer. If restrictions cannot be accommodated at your facility, the next step is typically an interactive process where DLS, your site’s HR team, and you discuss alternatives such as modified duties, temporary reassignment, or additional leave.
Medical Privacy Limits
The form should not include genetic information of any kind. Under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, employers cannot request or require genetic information, which includes family medical history, genetic test results, and participation in genetic services.6U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Genetic Information Discrimination If your provider starts writing about your family’s health history on the form, ask them to remove it.
Any medical information Amazon collects through this process must be kept in a separate medical file, not in your general personnel record.6U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Genetic Information Discrimination Your manager sees that you are cleared or not cleared and what restrictions apply to your duties. They do not get access to your diagnosis, treatment details, or clinical notes.
If Your Return Is Denied or Delayed
A stalled return usually comes down to one of three fixable problems: the form is incomplete, the restrictions cannot be accommodated at your site, or there is a system error in your case file. Start by checking your A to Z app for messages from your case manager explaining what is needed.
If the issue is a documentation gap, get your provider to correct and resubmit the form as quickly as possible. If you believe the denial is wrong, for example DLS says your restrictions cannot be accommodated but you know other employees in similar roles have received the same accommodation, escalate through these channels:
- Contact your DLS case manager directly using the contact information in your case file. Ask for a specific explanation of what is blocking your return.
- Call the Employee Resource Center if your case manager is unresponsive. Be prepared to explain your situation from scratch and reference your case number.
- Request an interactive process meeting if the issue involves accommodations. Under the ADA, the employer is expected to engage in a good-faith discussion about possible accommodations before concluding none exist.
Keep records of every call, email, and submission date. If you are approaching the end of your FMLA-protected 12 weeks and your return is being delayed by DLS processing rather than a medical issue, document that timeline carefully. The employer cannot delay your restoration while contacting your provider for clarification.2eCFR. 29 CFR 825.312 – Fitness-for-Duty Certification That regulation exists to prevent bureaucratic delay from eating into your job protection.
If your return date passes and you have not been cleared because you never submitted the form, Amazon may treat a no-show past your approved leave end date as job abandonment. If you need more time, contact DLS before your leave expires to request an extension rather than simply not showing up.