I'm not sure if this is the norm, because where I work, we are encouraged to prioritize our health and see a doctor when necessary. My husband, however, works for FedEx Freight, and they just told him yesterday about their new policy regarding doctors appointments.
In this new policy, employees are no longer allowed to work half days, partial days, etc. for appointments. If they have a doctor's appointment, no matter how short it is, they are now required to take the entire day off, either by using PTO or unpaid. My husband recently went through something traumatic and wants to see a therapist, but with this new policy, he says he can't. He doesn't have enough PTO to make up for the lost days. For a half hour session, he'd have to miss an entire 8 hours of work. They stressed that it's just too difficult for the company to accommodate them. Now my husband doesn't want to see a doctor for anything, because they don't accrue PTO nearly fast enough for him to not miss out on pay.
Is this policy allowed? Do employers have to accommodate in some way for doctors appointments? I am so sad that my husband has to decide between his health and money. He is the higher earner, so one unpaid day can really mess up our budget for the month.