Dealing with a Pedantic Employer

I do the same.

You're a good person for helping out.

Exactly, I emailed and messaged my manager about sickness for 1 day. The following day was a prebooked annual leave. On my return, my manager called an emergency meeting with HR who told me I was unprofessional for not calling and that messaging is not appropriate and, therefore, I will be on disciplinary if that happens again. No mention of how my manager simply forgot I was on annual leave.

100%. I had a horrible experience with my latest manager because he claimed because I was under a year of employment, I wasn't eligible for FMLA (common) but he lumped in ADA accomodations as the same thing. He constantly reported me to HR even for using a sick day I had accrued because he said I didn't notify him early enough. Some managers really push the limits because HR and Legal will always protect the company. I'm so sorry you're dealing with this. ❤️