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YPOG advises Personio on the restructuring of its global employee participation program

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Berlin, 22. Juli 2025 – YPOG has provided legal advice to Personio, a leading European HR software provider for small and medium-sized enterprises, on the comprehensive restructuring of its global employee participation program. Together with the reward experts of EquityPeople, a new structure was developed to offer employees in multiple jurisdictions attractive participation opportunities, while ensuring employee retention, compliance, and consistency throughout.  

With this restructuring, Personio aims to further strengthen employee ownership and leverage new tax regulations. The focus is on innovative participation options for German employees — particularly through deferred taxation under Section 19a of the German Income Tax Act — as well as the international rollout of restricted stock units (RSUs). The program is designed to position Personio as an attractive employer in the international market and to attract and retain top talent in the long term. 

“Successfully rolling out our new Employee Participation Program across six jurisdictions within just six months was no small undertaking, and we are thrilled by the acceptance and enthusiasm shown by employees. We are pleased to offer tax benefits to our German employees following the extension of section 19a of the income tax act in Germany at the end of 2024, as well as to our international employees with a new offering of restricted stock units,” said Malgosia Zietara-Miller, General Counsel at Personio. 

“It was a pleasure to work alongside Personio’s legal, tax, accounting, and HR teams on this ambitious project. The new structure not only sets a precedent for German start-ups and scale-ups, but also raises the bar for employee participation in equity schemes across the European venture landscape.”, adds Johannes Janning, Partner at YPOG. 

About Personio 


Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Munich, Personio is Europe's leading intelligent HR platform company for small and medium-sized enterprises. Its all-in-one platform helps HR teams digitize and automate core processes such as recruiting, employee management, and payroll. With 15,000 customers and more than 1,800 employees, Personio is one of the most valuable tech companies in Europe. The company operates offices in Munich, Berlin, London, Dublin, Madrid, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and New York. 

For further information: www.personio.com 

 

Team 

 

Dr. Johannes Janning (Co-lead, Transactions), Partner, Cologne
Dr. Sebastian Schwarz (Co-lead, Tax), Partner, Berlin 
Paul Harenberg (Transactions), Associate, Cologne
Elena Lessing (Tax), Associate, Berlin 
Pia Meven (Transactions), Associated Partner, Berlin 
Valentin Schmidt (Tax), Associate, Berlin 

 

 

About us

YPOG stands for You + Partners of Gamechangers – forward-thinking legal and tax advice. Supporting companies that are focused on emerging technologies, YPOG embraces change as an opportunity to develop cutting-edge solutions. The YPOG team offers comprehensive expertise in the areas of Funds, Tax, Transactions, Corporate, Banking, Regulatory + Finance, IP/IT/Data Protection, Litigation, and Corporate Crime + Compliance + Investigations. YPOG is one of the leading law firms in Germany for venture capital, private equity, fund structuring, and the implementation of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in financial services. Both the firm and its partners are regularly recognized by renowned national and international publications such as JUVE, Best Lawyers, Chambers and Partners, Leaders League, and Legal 500. YPOG is home to more than 150 experienced attorneys, tax advisors and tax specialists as well as a notary, working across offices in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, and Munich. 

Further information: www.ypog.law/en/ and www.linkedin.com/company/ypog

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