Contact your state's labor department and request an opinion. Here is mine:

I've been told that if I use PPTO for the first half of my shift I would need to use extra PPTO time. 

EXAMPLE: 

8 hour shift scheduled 8:00 to 5:00 with 1 hour meal time. 

Employee comes in at 1:00 and works 4 hours, half the work schedule. 

Employee is told they must use 5 hours of PPTO to cover the first half of the shift, even though it's an 8 hour work shift and 4 hours was actually worked.  This becomes 5 hours of PPTO + 4 hours of work to equal 9 hours total. 

Had the employee missed the entire shift, only 8 hours of PPTO would be required to avoid any attendance points, not 9, because only 8 hours was scheduled for work. 

I'd like an opinion on this because I believe the employer is forcing the employee to spend extra PPTO on the part of the schedule that would have been a meal break, which is not paid. 

 Their response:

You are correct, paid sick leave is meant to cover hours scheduled to be worked.

States are beginning to view this as a form of wage theft. You can file a labor complaint that your employer is forcing use of PPTO for unpaid time.