Is storing attributes in separate tables instead of columns a standard practice?
Is structuring a database like this a standard practice?


No.


  I'd like a second opinion before approaching the company about it.


Are you explaining poor performance? Complaining? Suggesting a re-design or replacement? Did anyone ask for your professional or personal opinion of the system? Is it going to affect project estimations and cause issues?

Why you are going to approach the company should form the basis of how you bring this up and what justification you need to bring to the table. If it's unsolicited advice for a small company, you might approach it more diplomatically by determining if this design issue is known, if it's causing issues, and if someone there is attached to, and proud of, their baby.

There's plenty of poorly designed systems and weird implementations out there... and while it's easy to shake our heads and second guess it's not always helpful to the client or ourselves. ;)