Obviously this behavior would raise suspicion about the legitimacy of the absence. Some employers will not approve the absence as covered by FMLA leave and will count it as an occurrence under an attendance policy. If there is strong evidence confirming that the employee was not utilizing the time for an approved reason but, for example, went on a trip, they could consider it an integrity violation under their employment policies and subject the employee to harsher discipline up to and including termination.
As always, the employer should approach each of these situations on a case-by-case basis, looking at patterns, the employee’s past behavior, company past precedent, etc.
