Starting in I guess the 80s/90s it all changed. I remember getting paid for unused sick-time in the 80s, that became history towards the end of that decade.
So yes, these days, use your sick time.
Insert a, “I’d love to use my sick time, IF I HAD ANY” meme here.
I strongly prefer that, honestly. It means that I don't have to categorize the reasons why I'm taking the time off because it doesn't matter. It's all just time off.
The key to remember is that it means that PTO is not "vacation time". It's a paid time off allowance that can certainly be used for vacation, but can also be used for other things.
Same, but I have only used 2.5 PTO days as sick time in probably the last 20ish years. Two of those were due to Covid in January.
So for me, it just means more vacation time. If it was categorized separately I’d lose (historically speaking).