A terrific post from employment attorney Ellen Simon discusses the potential liability and hazards when an employer accesses the personal emails of an employee. The actions of the employer described in the post were extreme but every employer should think twice before accessing an employee’s personal email.

I have discussed the dangers of the electronic workplace in several presentations over the past several years including last year for the Central Iowa SHRM Chapter. I’ll be giving a similar presentation at the upcoming Iowa Employment, Training and Benefits Conference on April 21, 2009. The conference is sponsored by HR-One Source. If you are an employer in Iowa, we hope to see you there.