Originally Posted by AAir_head

For company-funded travel, that's of course up to them; and they'd be making that decision with the knowledge they will be incurring cancellation penalties in the absence of waivers (unless they have a corporate travel contract that allows for fully flexible fares and/or fee-free close-in changes).

For personal travel, unless you're on a short list of people essential to your company's operations, you're on your own and not bound by the company's ban. Unless your "company" is a government/government agency...which may or may not have the authority to curtail where you can go when you're "off the clock".