An employment law expert says there's no precedent for giving an employee the sack, for getting stuck overseas.
Vodafone NZ says it is updating its messaging to staff about personal travel to Australia during the bubble.
An earlier memo had warned staff they faced possible "termination" if trapped overseas by a border closure ... beyond their approved leave.
Employment lawyer Jennifer Mills says she would not recommend employers release a bubble travel policy including such a dismissal provision.
Where personal leave had been granted, and an employee was subsequently trapped across the Tasman by a border closure, paid leave should be used up in the first instance.
Once that was exhausted, "the appropriate response would be unpaid leave", Mills said.
Mills said that, in her view, the dismissal provision of Vodafone NZ's policy would not hold up in an Employment Relations Authority hearing or the Employment Court.
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