Reminders for Expats to get employed in China

在中国就业提醒外国人士注意

As more and more foreigners are coming to China to pursue their careers, they should be aware of the provisions of employment laws in China. Here below, Attorney_Jingzhan will give you some legal advice about getting employed or unemployed in China：

Question 1: What does a foreigner need to apply for when coming to China to look for a job?

Answer: generally speaking, work permit and residence permit are needed for getting employed in China.

Question 2: what should be in your mind in entering into an employment relationship?

Answer: keep in mind that you need to negotiate with the employer in aspects of role, salary, time, location, and etc. By making an agreement, you should sign a written contract with the Employer and don’t forget to ask a copy of it. The original contract will be critically important if any disputes rise thereafter.

Question 3: Does the company and the employed foreigner need to pay for social insurance in China?

Answer: Yes. As per the laws and regulations, companies or other organizations that employ a foreigner need to make sure that they’ll make a registration of the insurance for the foreigner employees. The social insurance includes: retirement insurance, work injuries insurance, medical insurance, unemployment insurance, and maternity insurance. Paying for social insurance is not only a right, but also an obligation.

Question 4: For the employees, how to terminate the employment contract?

Answer: The employment contract may be terminated in the cases that:

1. mutual consent;

2. the employee’s notification of termination 30 days ahead of time, or 3 days ahead of time during the probation.

3. the employee’s quit due to that:

l Absence of working conditions and violating provisions of contract,

l Untimely or insufficient payment,

l No social insurance,

l Employer’s regulations/policy break laws and undermine employees’ interests.

l The contract is null and void because of breaking mandatory rules.

l Besides, if the employer, by way of violence, threatens or illegal detention, forces the employee to work, or endanger the employee’s safety, the employee could leave without notice.

Question 5: what would be the legal process in the situation that a dispute couldn’t be resolved by negotiation?

Answer: when such dispute is raised, the employee could apply for employment arbitration and, furthermore, the employee has the right to file a lawsuit if he thinks the arbitration decision isn’t justified.