Volkswagen: Check engine light, emission problems, obd ii

Question
What does it mean when the EMISSION WORKSHOP indication comes on? Also the CHECK ENGINE light stays on. Can anyone tell me what this means? The manual says that something tripped the sensor and need dealer to reset it. But in the past the light when out and know problem. This morning the light came on again. Therefore I was just wondering if anyone knows why it does that. How concern should I be?

Answer
Vanessa,
 Generally, emission problems do not affect drivability.  However, the CHECK ENGINE light may be on because of the EMISSION light, or because any of literally thousands of other reasons, some of which could be serious.  The best thing is to have a shop do an OBD scan and it will pull the actual code(s) from your car's computer.  All cars from roughly 88-95 have OBD-I capability.  From 96-on it likely would be OBD-II.  Your shop must be able to handle the appropriate type for your car(you didn't say what make/model/year is yours).  This can tell the mechanic and you more specifically what is causing either light.  If you have the shop just scan it and tell you the codes, you can look the codes up yourself at:
www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes
They may charge you the minimum fee(1 hour), usually whatever their hourly rate is.

- Rick