Employer sick-note rules · manufacturing
Does General Motors accept an online doctor’s note?
Under the 2023 UAW-GM agreement's Document 8, the reason for an absence 'is no longer relevant nor required', so a doctor's note does not remove an attendance instance. Only approved FMLA or leave certified through Sedgwick, or a contract-excused reason, does.
What General Motors (UAW hourly) workers are told
Absences tracked
UAW–GM 'Document No. 8, Special Procedure for Attendance': unplanned absence must be called in at least 30 minutes before shift; each unexcused absence is an 'instance' (up to 8 hours charged to Vacation Restricted time); Up to 5 unexcused instances a year are covered by Vacation Restricted hours; further instances enter the Attendance Improvement Steps: two written warnings, then unpaid time off of one week, two weeks and 30 days, then termination at the sixth step (2023 agreement, Document 8). Three or more consecutive days count as two instances.
Note required
A doctor's note does not remove an instance; only approved FMLA/leave (certified through Sedgwick) or contract-excused reasons do. Intermittent FMLA absences must be called in to the GM Absence Call In Line at least 30 minutes before shift.
Where to submit
GM Absence Call In Line 1-800-222-8889, at least 30 minutes before the shift (select the FMLA option if applicable); FMLA requests go through the GM Benefits & Services center, which Sedgwick administered as of the 2014-2017 court record.
Leave administrator
Sedgwick (per 2017 court record; not confirmed for 2026)
Paid sick time
No sick bank in Document 8: up to eight hours of Vacation Restricted time is charged per unexcused day (max five instances a year); a Sick Leave of Absence with Sickness and Accident benefits is excluded from the attendance procedure.
Verified against the company’s own published policy · 2026-09-23
Sources, read 2026-09-23
The rules that sit above General Motors’s policy
Federal leave law lets an employer ask for medical certification and gives you at least 15 days to return it; disability law limits medical inquiries to what the job requires; twenty states and D.C. limit when any employer, General Motors included, may demand a note; and federal guidance treats a licensed physician’s online evaluation as telehealth. The statutes and sources are on the state-by-state doctor’s note law index and in are online doctor’s notes legal?
Other manufacturing employers
Tesla · Tyson Foods · JBS USA · Stellantis · Boeing
Every employer’s sick-note rule, in one list
SickSlip is not affiliated with General Motors (UAW hourly). Employer names are used to describe their published policies. Reviewed by Adam Z. Kawalek, MD (NPI 1326223306). Facts checked 2026-09-23.