Employer sick-note rules · airline
Does Southwest Airlines accept an online doctor’s note?
Southwest flight attendants may use one doctor's note or one self-certified Personal Illness Note per calendar quarter to excuse a sick call with no points. The contract accepts signatures from a doctor, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant and does not require an in-person visit.
What Southwest Airlines (flight attendants; ground ops) workers are told
Absences tracked
Flight attendants (TWU 556 contract Art. 32): 0.5 points per sick day, capped at 2.5 points per single continuous illness under the 2024 contract, and 2.5 points for a sick call under 2 hours before check-in. Ramp and operations agents are covered by a separate TWU Local 555 contract, which we could not open.
Note required
Flight attendants may use one doctor's note OR one Personal Illness Note (PIN, self-certified, up to 7 days) per calendar quarter to excuse a sick call with no points; a doctor's note can extend a PIN by up to 14 days if it ties the days to one illness. The note must list dates of illness, dates of treatment and the return-to-full-duty date, and be signed by an M.D., D.O., dentist, oral surgeon, clinical psychologist, chiropractor, APRN, nurse practitioner or physician assistant (2024 contract; the 2018 guide listed doctor, NP or PA). PINs may be used once a quarter, up to four times a year. Ground ops: Southwest has demanded doctor's notes from ramp workers during high-absence periods (a January weather event at Chicago Midway), which TWU Local 555 grieved as outside the contract.
Where to submit
FAs: give the note to a Supervisor or Leave Specialist before or on the next scheduled pairing or within 7 working days after the last day of absence, whichever is earlier (2024 contract; the 2018 guide also allowed fax to Attendance & Leave); PINs are submitted the same way or via SWALife.
Paid sick time
Paid sick leave is set by the TWU contracts; the attendance article does not state the accrual.
Online notes
The 2024 TWU 556 contract says 'virtual services like Teladoc will now qualify for a doctor's statement' and 'The statement of verification can include virtual or telemedicine services provided all the requirements of section 32.4 above are met.'
Verified against the company’s own published policy · 2026-09-23
What a SickSlip note shows Southwest Airlines 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 Southwest Airlines 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 Southwest Airlines 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 Southwest Airlines’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, Southwest Airlines 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 airline employers
United Airlines
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SickSlip is not affiliated with Southwest Airlines (flight attendants; ground ops). Employer names are used to describe their published policies. Reviewed by Adam Z. Kawalek, MD (NPI 1326223306). Facts checked 2026-09-23.