Why are employers more abusive and power tripping than they were 3 years ago?

Went back to my old job last month I got sick after the first or second week they wouldn’t let me go home the first time. after a whole month of being sick off and on I finally went to the doctor and called in sick had a upper respiratory infection it was only getting worse once I started feeling better. The Corticosteroids the doctor gave me gave me side effects I tried to call in to work for a second day the owner could not find someone to cover my shift that night so I quit.