Car-driving workers in London may be wondering if there is a chance that their employers will pick up the tab for the £5-a-day congestion charging scheme which started last month. Although it is not yet clear how the charge will feed through, it is an issue workers across the country may want to watch with interest.

Nottingham is preparing to launch a workplace parking levy of £150 a year in April 2005. Edinburgh is on course for a two-zone congestion charging scheme for 2006, and many other cities will follow suit. 'This is definitely going to be an important issue,' says Lucinda Turner of the (pro-congestion charge) Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

At the moment, the posi tion in London is fairly clear-cut, says the employers' campaigning organisation London First. 'Employees who need the car for work are getting the congestion charge paid,' says a spokeswoman. 'Those who drive to work as a luxury, even in a company car, have to pay the charge themselves.'

London Mayor Ken Livingstone, the political driving force behind the scheme, has urged employers to play their part in helping low-paid workers. The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, for instance, allows firefighters driving to work or between stations to claim the fees as expenses.

About 80,000 or 90,000 people are paying the charge on any given working day at the moment. But few employees amongst them yet seem to see it as a matter for their bosses. 'We've had surprisingly few enquiries,' says employment specialist Michael Burd of solicitor Lewis Silkin. 'It doesn't seem to have been raised yet as a big issue by employees.'

Unions, on the other hand, are testing the water. Richard Lynch of banking union Unifi has had no success in persuading banking employers in central London to subsidise staff. 'The distinct feeling I get is that they feel it would set a precedent. The fear is that if congestion charging worked in London, all other major cities would do something similar.' Banks are going through a difficult period and it is a poor time to be trying to negotiate another employee benefit. Lucinda Turner of the CBI says: 'The costs of doing business in London are fairly high anyway, margins are being stretched and we've also got the increases in National Insurance to deal with.'

So what will happen? Burd says that 'one way or another' the congestion charge cost will be factored into salary negotiations in future. Bharti Patel, former director of the Low Pay Unit, says that many low-paid workers just cannot afford this extra expense (which could take more than a sixth of a full-time worker's gross pay). She says: 'We very much need to consider congestion charging as part of the London weighting debate.'

Although they are not paying much yet, many employers have been prompted by congestion charging to start thinking about the travel arrangements of their staff. Boots, Pfizers, Marks & Spencer Financial Services, Orange, Royal Bank of Scotland, Sainsbury's and many local authorities are among those working with campaigning group Transport 2000 to produce 'green travel plans'. These plans offer alternatives to car-driving that reduce or avoid the need to pay congestion charges. These include car-sharing, encouraging cycling and walking, liaising with local bus companies to tailor the timetable or introduce discounts for their workers. Even the installation of a shower can have a big effect, encouraging people to cycle or jog to work. Property developer Argent, based in the heart of London at Piccadilly, has five regular runners among its staff of 27 people as well as several cyclists and walkers. Free breakfasts and showers encourage people. Chief executive Roger Madelin says that the arrangements (in place now for 16 years) help recruitment: 'They have been partly responsible for recruiting four out of our five new staff in the last three years.' Accountant Grant Thornton sees a golden future for city cycling: 'Cycling looks set to become increasingly popular.' Bikeslent to employees escape tax.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development predicts other measures will be taken up more broadly by employers. 'Employers may decide to extend season ticket-type loans to cover congestion charging,' says spokesman Charles Cotton. Some employers are already offering more flexibility to night workers, says union Unifi, letting them cut back on their lunch hour, for example, in order to leave early enough to drive out before the 7am start of the congestion charge period.

Now that the government has seen that the London scheme has got off to a good start, politicians will be urged to become much more proactive. The CBI - working on a report on road taxes for this autumn - will call for uniform national systems across different cities and roads. It also wants variable charges - higher prices at peak times and on peak roads, for example. In Nottingham, there is bound to be a big debate about whether the £150 workplace parking levy should be passed on to employees, since this decision is going to be left to employers.

The London congestion charging scheme has set new standards for tackling traffic - but it is also clear that it will rapidly become outdated and could seem very basic in a few years when traffic charging measures are the norm.