Is this workplace attendance policy normal?

My husband has worked at this company for over 3 years. He gets two weeks of personal time off per year. They’re going through some changes in management and there’s a new policy. They still get two weeks paid leave, but all of it has to be pre-approved by a manager or else it counts against you. So, in essence, they’re penalized for getting sick and having to call in.

They’ve fired 2–3 people for “attendance” issues so far, including one guy that had been there for nearly 20 years. Considering the length of time he’s been there and the amount of time off he probably gets at this point, I can only assume it’s from taking his leave without it being pre-approved, possibly from getting sick, family emergency, etc.

Anytime people get fired at my husband’s job I get a little paranoid that he might be next. He hasn’t taken a day off since this new policy was put into place, but it makes me wonder if they’re firing people for “attendance issues” just as an excuse to get rid of a bunch of people or if there’s something else going on. I’m not asking if this is legal because, when it all comes down to it, they could fire anyone they want for no reason at all, but I’m wondering how common this type of thing is. I understand not wanting people to give you no notice before taking a day off, but penalizing employees for taking off when they have personal days left? I don’t know about that…just curious if anyone has ever heard of anything like this.