Małgorzata Grzelak heads the Warsaw Labour & Employment team. Małgorzata specialises in employment and immigration law, as well as related compliance, corporate and commercial issues.
She offers comprehensive advice to clients operating in the services and manufacturing sectors, with a particular focus on technology, shared services centres and production companies.
Małgorzata’s professional focus is on:
M&A and restructuring – Employee takeovers, remuneration systems, trade unions and work council relations.
Compliance and investigations – Equal pay and pay transparency, bullying, harassment, white-collar crime, global/local policies.
Executive contracts and workforce structuring – Hiring and dismissals, transfers, international secondments, employment disputes.
Occupational safety and health – Workplace regulations, risk management, accidents at work.
Restrictive covenants and unfair competition – Protecting employers’ interests.
Redundancies and business closures – Individual and group redundancies.
Advising an automotive parts manufacturer based in Asia on various cross-border employment law projects related to its workforce in Europe, including Poland, France, Germany and Italy.
Representing a transportation industry client before state labour inspection in the health and safety investigation process related to a fatal accident at work, and legal counselling in other related proceedings.
Advising a leading European automotive manufacturer on all employment law issues related to the sale of its business unit to another international corporation. Our counselling included complex employment law planning and execution in Poland and coordination with the international transaction team, counselling on complex employee transfer issues, including trade unions/works council relations, employee communications, relations with third-party service providers, agency workers and outsourcing relationships transfer, as well as immigration law advise pertaining to foreign workers employed at the transferring business.
Advising on the employment aspects of the acquisition by a global supply chain technology and solution services provider of a leading freight and logistics provider in Poland in one of the top private equity transactions of 2022, including on agreements with key executives.
Counselling a medical technology products company in the process of setting up a new business services centre in Poland and in adjusting its existing corporate structure to the new scope of operations; in structuring employment relations, internal policies, daily compliance matters, immigration, health and safety; recruitment, transfer of employees, and employee representation; and in engaging with the labour inspection and other authorities.
Counselling an India-based software services and consulting company on structuring labour and employment relations in its Poland office, hiring and dismissals, introduction of local policies and localising of global policies, as well as providing legal counsel on immigration issues pertaining to non-EU citizens.
Assisting numerous clients from production, entertainment, commercial, energy and other sectors in investigating alleged workplace malpractices, noncompliance or harassment allegations; providing legal counsel in the internal investigation processes related to frauds, funds embezzlements, bullying, sexual harassment and other grievances raised by the employees.
Advising private investors on numerous mergers and acquisitions projects, involving transfers of permanent and temporary workforce and post-transfer harmonisation of compensation and benefits.
Co-chair, American Chamber of Commerce HR Committee in Poland – Supporting American investors
Member, European Employment Lawyers Association
Warsaw office chair, Squire Women Affinity Network
Mentoring champion, Squire Patton Boggs Warsaw office
“Malgorzata Grzelak impressed us, not just in terms of her technical knowledge within her specialist area, but also in terms of her breadth and depth of knowledge outside of that.” Legal 500 EMEA 2025
Ranked among Leading Partners in Legal 500 EMEA 2025 in the Employment category.
Ranked among Leading Individuals in Legal 500 EMEA 2024 in the Employment category. Client feedback confirms her great understanding of their needs, and she is described as “commercial, pragmatic and easily able to translate concepts to the business”. She is also praised for being “highly responsive and capable of providing advice on a variety of legal issues”.
Recognised in Legal 500 EMEA 2022-2023 for Poland – Employment as Leading Individual.
Recognised in Legal 500 EMEA 2021 for Poland – Employment as “very professional” and “extremely responsive”.
Recognised in Chambers Europe 2019 for Poland – Employment as Up and Coming, and mentioned as having “strong business acumen” and not using “the legalese that is difficult to somebody who is not a lawyer”.
Recommended for employment in Legal 500 EMEA 2018 as “commercially minded and responsive”, providing “practical and reliable” advice.
Recommended for employment in Legal 500 EMEA 2017 and noted as “extremely professional and client-oriented”.
Recognised as an Up and Coming lawyer for Employment in Chambers Europe 2017 as “very thorough and anticipates clients’ concerns” and “business-oriented, very communicative and friendly”.
Host, HR Space – Squire Patton Boggs podcast discussing Polish employment law developments.