Office staff are set to be told to continue working from home even as other coronavirus lockdown restrictions are lifted.

Boris Johnson is set to unveil his ‘roadmap’ for England’s return to a relative normality on Monday – but MailOnline reports the prime minister will not give a firm date for workers to return to their desks.

It means the ‘work from home if you can’ message will stay in place for the foreseeable future.

Asked whether the new blueprint would change this message, a Government source said: ‘I don’t think that will happen. We have a way to go before that changes.

‘We wouldn’t bring in a new message at this stage because it will confuse people. The road map is to set out where we’re going.’ 

It comes as Conservative MPs urged the Government last night to provide clarity on when people might be able to return to their offices.

Former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘We need to get people back to work as soon as possible.

‘There are lots of reasons why work is important to our lives. It affects people’s physical and mental wellbeing and there are issues around productivity.

‘I would like to see as much detail as possible in the road map to help people to make plans. They need to know in advance.’

The work from home message was introduced at the beginning of the first lockdown last March.

But as restrictions were eased and case numbers fell over the summer, employees were urged to go back to the office – sparking anger from Labour MPs and unions.

That message was again reversed for the second lockdown in November and has continued into the third lockdown now.

The prime minister said people should only go into work if they ‘absolutely’ cannot work from home.

It comes after fears employers might be able to force their staff to get a Covid-19 vaccine on threat of losing their jobs.

The Government is reportedly discussing whether this can be allowed under health and safely laws, and The Telegraph reports some ministers are in favour of a ‘no jab, no job’ scheme.

But an official Downing Street spokesperson said it would be ‘discriminatory’ to force someone to have a coronavirus vaccine in order to keep their job.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said: ‘Taking a vaccine is not mandatory and it would be discriminatory to force somebody to take one.’

A number of large firms have already told staff to continue working remotely, with some even delaying a return to the office until at least the end of the year.

But some studies claim productivity is hampered when people work from home instead of in the office.

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