Thanks for those who replied confirming he is not paid when he takes this time off (I am from UK and employment rights are different here). This confirms a few things:

1) He is depending absolutely on you Mapper
2) The reason his employers don't care about his absences is they are saving staff wages in slow season. Odds are they probably do see through his excuses but don't care because of this.

I really do feel for you Mapper, but I'm unsure if you want input. Just want to say there are options and you do not have to put up with this, I wonder if you have self-esteem issues which are underpinning this.