What do you recommend that workers do regarding e-mail at work or on work equipment?

Unfortunately the only way to truly protect yourself from workplace monitoring as it currently exists is to only use communications devices that are exclusively under your control (not employer issued) and whose operation is in no way linked to the employer's equipment.

What are your feelings on acceptable use policies and their efficacy? Acceptable use policies go a long way towards recognizing the need for a reasonable amount of personal communication when at work. Still many of these policies do not go far enough in that they continue to allow random monitoring without cause but simply set up a framework of rules that inform the employee of what types of behavior are acceptable or not. They may protect employees from inadvertently doing something that could affect their employment status but won't protect their privacy.