外籍人士在中国境内的合法就业
The following article is from 稼轩律师 Author 刘瑞雪
近期，稼轩律师事务所涉外律师团队为多位外籍人士就其在中国境内合法就业所得劳动报酬的取得提供法律服务，现我们结合相关法律规定及稼轩律师的实务经验，就外籍人士在中国境内就业的一些重要因素做出特别提示。鉴于本文初衷是希望能够帮助更多的外籍人士在中国境内合法合规就业，故以英文行文，另附中文文本在后，因阅读习惯考虑，并非中英文完全对应。
1. Conditions for Legal Employment
Legal employment refers to the situation where foreigners and domesticemployers have gone through all procedures for employment in China (mainly referto "Work Permit") in accordance with relevant regulations, and haveestablished labor relations in China according to the contents of the Work Permit declaration; In contrast, illegalemployment refers to the situation where a foreigner or an employer withinChina fails to go through all the procedures for employment in China orestablish and maintain a labor relationship within China according to thecontent of the Work Permit declaration.
To distinguish legal employment from illegal employment, two elementsneed to be clarified，which arethe procedures of theestablishment of labor relations and the procedures of the duration of laborrelations. Failure to meet either of the two requirements will result inillegal employment. The main circumstances of illegal employment include butare not limited to: not working in the registered area (including those workingin the name of business travel for a long time across the area); not engagingin the registered work; working for several employers at the same time and notin compliance with legal conditions; where the foreign student of thework-study program fails to annotate the application of the residence permit; otherillegal situations.
In addition, according to the provisions of Interpretation (IV) of the Supreme People’s Court ofSeveral Issues on the Application of Law in the Trial of Labor Dispute Cases,the people's court shall not support any party who asks to confirm theexistence of a labor relationship with an employing unit within the territoryof China when the work permit is not obtained in accordance with the law. Itcan be seen that "Work Permit" is a precondition for the discussionof the labor relations of foreign employees, and also an important factor forthe judicial judgment of the existence of the legal labor relations.
The employing units of foreignersworking in China must be consistent with the units specified in their Work Permit.Where a foreigner changes his employer within the area designated by theissuing authority but still pursues his original occupation, he shall obtainthe approval of the original issuing authority and go through the formalitiesfor changing his Work Permit. If a foreigner leaves the area specified by theissuing authority for employment or changes his employer within the areaspecified by the original regulations and is engaged in different occupations,he shall re-apply for the new Wok Permit.
2. Loss and Cancellation of Work Permit
The loss of the Work Permit or theunilateral cancellation by the employer will cause defects in the foreigners’legitimate employment. If the Work Permit is lost, the applicant shall, fromthe date of the loss of the permit or the date of discovery of the loss,publish the declaration on the fwp.safea.gov.cn andapply to the licensing authority for the replacement. If the Work Permit islost but the labor relation has been terminated, then the certificate number ofWork Permit can be directly used in the above system to apply for cancellation,the processing time is 5 working days, but a legal separation certificate isneeded.
If the foreigner's Work Permit islost, the employer is not excluded to cancel his or her Work Permit by onlineoperation using the following information, i.e. the foreigner's Work Permit number,the system login account and password and a legal separation certificate etc.. Inthe meantime, many foreigners do not know that their Work Permits have been revokedalready and they were placed on the brink of illegal employment. Therefore,foreigners better take good care of their Work Permits and maintain a goodrelationship with their employers.
3. Terminate the Labor Contract with the Employer within the Periodof Residence
After the foreigner'sWork Permit is revoked, the employer needs to exchange the foreigner's ResidencePermit for a "Visitor Visa", which lasts for 30 days. The foreignercan find a new job within China within 30 days. During these 30 days, the newemployer can apply for the new Work Permit and exchange for the new Residence Permitfor the foreigner.If it is more than 30 days,the foreigners must leave China .Foreigners can stay until the last day oftheir Residence Permit if the employer has not applied for a new Visitor Visa.Here is a special reminder for foreigners to pay attention to the time to leaveChina.
4. Social Insurance Payment
Accordingto the Interim Measures for the Participation in Social Insurance of ForeignersEmployed in China, the employer shall register social insurance for the foreignerswithin 30 days from the date of handling Work Permit. Where an employing unitor a domestic work unit infringes upon foreigner’s social insurance rights andinterests, the foreigner may also require the administrative department ofsocial insurance or the collection agency for social insurance to handle such illegalact according to law.
5. Other Tips
The employershall not dispatch foreigners to work outside the area registered in the WorkPermit. If the employer does so, the foreigners should refuse such request. Dueto foreigners work outside the area registered in the Work Permit, the localexit-entry administration bureau will impose a fine in accordance with the lawon illegal employment, and the foreigners’ credit records in China will beaffected to different degrees.
Theforeigner who is engaged in teaching job, whose salary is calculated on thebasis of class hours, shall keep detailed record on his/her working hours andplace, in order to assure his/her labor will be paid off. When there is adispute with the employer, if it cannot be handled by himself/herself , it issuggested to entrust a lawyer to negotiate with the employer in a timely manneron behalf of his/her rights and interests.
附中文：
外籍人士在中国境内的合法就业
一、合法就业的条件
合法就业是指外国人及境内的用人单位依照规定办理了在境内就业的各项手续(主要是“就业许可证”)，并按照申报时的内容在境内建立并维持劳动关系的情形；与此相对，非法就业则是外国人以及境内的用人单位未依照规定办理了在境内就业的各项手续，或者未按照申报时的内容在境内建立并维持劳动关系的情形。
区分合法就业与非法就业，需要明确两要素：第一，劳动关系建立时的手续办理；第二，劳动关系存续期间相关手续的办理。如果不符合前述两项要件的任意一项，都会导致非法就业。非法就业的主要情形包括但不限于：未在所登记的地区工作的(包括以出差的名义长期跨地区工作的)；未从事所登记的工作的；同时为多家用人单位工作且不符合法定条件的；勤工助学的留学生未对居留证申请加注的；其他各种违法情形。
此外，根据《最高人民法院关于审理劳动争议案件适用法律若干问题的解释（四）》的规定，未依法取得就业证件即与中国境内的用人单位签订劳动合同，当事人请求确认与用人单位存在劳动关系的，人民法院不予支持。由此可见，“就业许可证”是展开外籍员工劳动关系讨论的前提条件，也是司法上判断合法劳动关系是否存在的重要考量因素。
根据《外国人在中国就业管理规定》第二十四条，外国人在中国就业的用人单位必须与其就业证所注明的单位相一致。外国人在发证机关规定的区域内变更用人单位但仍从事原职业的，须经原发证机关批准，并办理就业证变更手续。外国人离开发证机关规定的区域就业或在原规定的区域内变更用人单位且从事不同职业的，须重新办理就业许可手续。
二、就业许可证的遗失与注销
就业许可证的遗失，或被用人单位单方面注销均会对外国人的合法就业造成瑕疵。若就业许可证遗失可以补办，申请人应当自证件遗失之日或发现遗失之日起在“外国人来华工作管理服务系统”（fwp.safea.gov.cn）上登载《声明》，并向许可决定机构申请补办。若就业许可证件丢失但已解除劳动关系，那么凭就业许可的证件号码可直接在上述系统中申请注销，办理时间为5个工作日，但需提供合法的离职证明。
若外国人的就业许可证件遗失，若雇主有他证件的号码以及系统登录的账号及密码，且有合法的离职证明，是不排除经办人进行网上操作在外国人不知情的情况下将其就业许可证件注销的。而在此时，很多外国人是不知道自己是在就业许可证件被注销的情况下“非法就业”的。所以，外国人一定要保管好自己的就业许可证，并同雇主保持良好密切的关系。
三、在居留期限内与用人单位解除劳动合同能否仍在中国境内居留
外国人的就业许可证件注销后，用人单位需要为外国人换取“停留签证”，停留签证的停留时间为30天，在此30天内外国人可以在中国境内找新的工作由新的雇主为其办理就业许可并换取新的居留许可；如果超过30天，外国人必须离开中国境内。如果用人单位一直没有换取新的停留签证，则外国人可以待到居留签证的最后一天。在这里特别提醒外国人需要留意的离境时间。
四、社会保险缴纳