Employer sick-note rules · manufacturing
Does Boeing accept an online doctor’s note?
Boeing's Puget Sound rules recognize a Medically Documented Absence. Documentation must reach Leave Services within ten calendar days of your return, by fax, to excuse it.
What Boeing (IAM 751 Puget Sound machinists) workers are told
Absences tracked
Puget Sound attendance requirements (effective May 21 2018): AWOL/extended absence → termination after 5 unexcused reported or unreported absences; progressive attendance discipline using Corrective Action Memos (CAMs); after the first Failure-to-Maintain CAM, medically documented absences become unexcused.
Note required
Medically Documented Absence (MDA): documentation must reach Leave Services within 10 calendar days of return to work; same-day medical care during working hours (16.10(d)) is excused if proof is brought on return. Sick leave, vacation in lieu of sick leave, FMLA or LOA cover absences.
Where to submit
Per the 2018 IAM 751 chart, fax MDA documents to Leave Services at 847-554-1913 using the coversheet on TotalAccess (confirm the number is still current on TotalAccess); FMLA and LOA also go through Boeing Leave Services.
Paid sick time
Contract sick leave; Washington paid sick leave (I-1433) integrated.
From published reporting on the policy · 2026-09-23
What a SickSlip note shows Boeing HR
The physician’s name and NPI number, the dates you are excused, a document ID, and a verification link HR can open without calling anyone. It does not include your diagnosis. Whether Boeing accepts it depends on the rule above, not on where the physician saw you: no US state law limits a sick note to in-person visits, and the federal telehealth rules are on telehealth.hhs.gov.
Your state may limit what Boeing can demand
Twenty states and the District of Columbia have a paid-sick-leave law, and most of them only let an employer ask for a note after three consecutive days. Company policy cannot override that. Check yours in the state-by-state doctor’s note law index.
Sources, read 2026-09-23
The rules that sit above Boeing’s policy
- Federal leave (FMLA). An employer may require medical certification for a serious health condition, and must give you at least 15 calendar days to return it. 29 CFR 825.305 and U.S. Department of Labor Fact Sheet 28G.
- Disability (ADA). Points systems applied to disability-related absences have been challenged; medical inquiries must be job-related and consistent with business necessity. EEOC enforcement guidance.
- State paid-sick-leave law. Twenty states and D.C. limit when any employer, Boeing included, may demand a note. Every state’s rule, with the statute.
- Telehealth. Federal guidance treats secure messaging with a licensed provider as telehealth; no state law limits a sick note to in-person visits. telehealth.hhs.gov.
Other manufacturing employers
Tesla · Tyson Foods · JBS USA · General Motors · Stellantis
All employers
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SickSlip is not affiliated with Boeing (IAM 751 Puget Sound machinists). Employer names are used to describe their published policies. Reviewed by Adam Z. Kawalek, MD (NPI 1326223306). Facts checked 2026-09-23.