Employee leaves office at 5 PM instead of staying late after his boss denies his PTO requests, gets reprimanded for not being a team player: 'I've been here 4 years and never called out once.'

They take his work for granted every day. 

Every office has a distinct culture and set of expectations for its employees. Some employers believe that if their employees don't show up early and leave late every day, they are violating an unwritten rule that requires both. Employees can disagree with such a policy all they want, but if that's the culture of their office, it's nearly impossible to change said culture.

Most employees want an office culture that recognizes they are people with human needs sometimes. Nobody expects their job to be totally cool when they constantly lollygag and call out of work more than they come in. They want their job to understand that they have to miss a lot of time with their kids to be in the office five days a week, so they should let them call out of work sometimes so they can make it to their daughter's piano recital or their son's 8th-grade graduation. They want their job to understand that a long weekend isn't always enough for a vacation, and they aren't being selfish for wanting a little more time off to go on a trip with their loved ones. Just because the man in charge decides he cares more about his work than his family doesn't mean all his employees need to make the same sacrifice. 

The worst part of working at a place that expects so much is that even when you're going above and beyond, your work is never good enough. Don Draper might say that asking for recognition at work is a waste of breath because "that's what the money is for," but modern managers know you can't expect an employee to work hard for years and years without recognition or credit for their job well done. Well, technically, you can, but you can't expect that employee to stick around for much longer after they become sick of the disrespect.