Is my employer being too intrusive about sick days?

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I work for a call center because of lack of work in my city (that's probably the entire problem right there). I've been seeking another job for months but haven't had any luck so far.


We get up to 8 paid sick days per year. However, they don't give paid sick days out willy-nilly. I called in sick with a pounding headache one day and they wouldn't pay me for it because apparently having a very bad pounding headache was not physically bad enough and I could have still been there and felt like beyond crap to listen to customers scream directly into my ear all night.


When we call in sick or late, we need to phone and explain why we are too sick to be at work. I find this reasonable. However we then need to then stay by the phone for a few hours afterwards until a manger calls to "check in" on us to make sure we're not just playing hooky.


I already always found the manager calling back later to check in as intrusive, but they've recently just found a way to become more intrusive.


Apparently now, on top of getting the call to "check in" on us, the next day we need to have a one-on-one with our manager and fill out a "sick day" sheet. I haven't done it yet, but the people who have said they felt it was extremely intrusive - asking for the reasons why you called in sick, what you think made you sick, how you will avoid being sick in the future, every singly symptom you can think of that you had while you were sick that day, etc. - basically just drilling you about all the information they can get as to how sick you were and what you did that day.


So when I show up for work today, because I called in sick earlier this week, I need to meet up with my team manager and go through the sheet of paper with him.


When I called in sick, I stated I had a headache, nausea, and was running to the bathroom a lot. However with needing to tell them of "why" was I like this, I don't exactly feel comfortable telling my male manager that "I did have a headache and feel nauseated, however when my menstrual cycle begins I tend to get very bad cramps and sometimes diarrhea, and so that is not something I can prevent" - I don't exactly feel comfortable talking to my older male manager about my menstrual cycle just to get my paid sick day approved.


I feel like it's intrusive to dangle over being paid for the sick day or not is based on how much personal information I want to give them, and if I don't give them enough I won't get paid.


Previously I also have called in sick due to anxiety - though I told them I had diarrhea. My anxiety has gotten so bad working at this stupid call center that I've gotten anxiety attacks hours before work just thinking of being there, and a couple times at work. I've had really bad panic attacks before and I don't want to have one in my work place. If I do not feel mentally fit to show up, I'm not going to risk having a really bad panic attack at work. However I feel if I tell them this they will chalk it up to "she called in sick just because she hates her job" and not take me seriously.


Are they being too intrusive about sick days? Do I have a right to not tell them, as I am within my limit of sick days and do not abuse the system, why I called in sick? Would they be in the right to not pay me because I don't want to go in deeper details than that, especially when there is no evidence that I was trying to abuse the system?


I'm in Canada, if that makes a difference. I care more about what the law generally is rather than state-by-state, province-by-province.

Is my employer being too intrusive about sick days?