Workplace writes up employees for every time they call out of a shift, no matter how far in advance: 'In an industry that's hemorrhaging workforce, these threats seem pretty silly'

Everybody wants to be respected at work, and that can come in a lot of forms. It can come in the form of payment, of treatment by your coworkers and higher-ups, and it can come in the form of flexibility. Not every job can be flexible, but every job can try to accommodate its employees. This is part of running a good business. If you don't at least try your best to make everybody happy, then you're going to lose employees left and right. Especially the good ones who know they're worth. There are lots of ways you can do this as an employer. You can support them with generous time off packages, incentivize them with bonuses, and supply them with benefits. But these all cost money, so employers can be reluctant to use them. But there are ways to support your employees even without spending extra dough. 

You can start by treating them like humans. Humans are famously fallible, and sometimes stuff comes up that we can't avoid. Things happen, like illnesses or accidents, and there's nothing we can do to prevent them. The least we can do is expect our employers to have our back in this situation. Sometimes you have to call out of work, and it's not your fault. You do your best to give notice, but sometimes life just happens. You would expect a little bit of grace in this situation, especially if you're a loyal employee. But one workplace decided to skew all of that goodwill and instead punish those who had regular life stuff come up.