My work colleague has recently had conversations with some SEO consultants and after those conversations she has come to the conclusion that having a link to the home page on the home page will have a negative effect on the websites SEO.

And because of this we are now building websites that don't have a home link show until you are on any page other than the home page.

If the above argument is true then surely then if we are on the about page of a website we shouldn't show a navigation item for the page we are on, and that would the case for any other page of the website...

So my question is:

Does having a home navigation item on the home page have a negative effect on the websites SEO?

And if not:

Why has my colleague come to the above conclusion? Could she be misunderstanding something more important about home links on the home page regarding SEO?