It is important to note that the impact of setting 'position:relative' on table elements such as table-row-group, table-header-group, table-footer-group, table-row, table-column-group, table-column, table-cell, and table-caption is not clearly defined.
Source: http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/visuren.html#propdef-position
Is there a strategy for positioning content relative to a table cell when using :before or :after selectors?
.someclass{display: table-cell; position: relative; z-index: auto;}
/*this may not produce the desired effect*/