This makes sense as a way to cover edge cases in extreme circumstances

What would make sense is a law that guarantees extra leave in these edge cases.
For example in Germany, you can call in sick not only when you're sick but also when your child is.
There is no limit to how many sick days you can take.
(There are measures in place to prevent abuse of the system, of course. And being sick doesn't protect you from being fired, so you can't just stay home indefinitely. And the number of people abusing this system are VERY VERY low anyway. Cause most people actually aren't looking for ways to cheat all the time, and don't need to be watched over like prisoners.)