CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Linda Liang, Piao Liu, Chutian Wang and Xiangbo Lv, King & Wood Mallesons
al within 30 days prior to the expiration date, and the employment contract can be renewed upon the labour administrative authorities’ approval and completion of the work permit extension procedures. 4.2 Registration Requirements for Foreign Workers General Registration Requirements All foreign workers shall obtain valid work permits to work in China, except in very special circumstances – eg, if the duration of their stay in China is less than 90 days and the worker enters China for certain reasons, including: • to conduct a trial for sports training in China; • to purchase machinery or equipment for support - ing maintenance, installation, commissioning, disassembly, guidance or training; or • to be dispatched to domestic branches, subsidiar - ies or representative offices to complete short-term work. In other circumstances, the registration can generally be divided into two kinds depending on the duration of the stay (ie, whether it is over 90 days or not). Gen - erally, there are two kinds of arrangement commonly adopted in practice for employers to have foreign nationals work in China: • the foreign national is directly employed by a PRC entity, which acts as the employer of that foreign national (“direct hiring”); or • the foreign national is employed by a foreign entity and then seconded to work in a PRC entity (“inter - national secondment”). To implement the international secondment mode, the foreign worker must be in a managerial or technical position in China, and the foreign entity shall issue a secondment letter, stipulating contents including but not limited to workplace, term, salary and position. The PRC entity shall apply for the work permit with the secondment letter. Type of Foreign Workers There are different types of foreign workers permitted to apply for work permits, including high-end talent (Category A), foreign professionals (Category B) and
other foreign personnel (Category C). There are spe - cific criteria indicating which category shall apply to each foreign employee when applying for work per - mits. Procedures for Obtaining Work Permits and Residence Permits for Foreign Employees For a PRC employer to hire a foreign employee who comes from abroad, the general procedures for obtaining a work permit and a residence permit are as follows: • the employer is to register in the “Service System for Foreigners Working in China” and upload the relevant documents required; • the employee may apply for a Z visa after the work permit notice has been issued, and enter China with the work permit notice; • within 15 days of entry with the work permit notice, the employer should apply for a work permit; and • the foreign employee shall then apply for a resi - dence permit after receiving the work permit. Mobile work (remote work) is not a new concept and was widely used during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Post-pandemic, some employers still keep the remote work option open to their employees or adopt a hybrid work mode (onsite and remote). Work location is a mandatory term in an employment contract, and it will normally be an onsite location. Switching from onsite work to remote work will gener - ally require the mutual consent of both the employer and the employee. In practice, there remain some uncertainties or difficulties related to remote work, as follows. Employee Management In the remote work mode, employers may lack ade - quate channels to monitor employees՚ working sta - tus, so it is suggested that supporting policies are incorporated during the remote work arrangement, including a request for the employee to check in online through attendance software during his/her normal 5. New Work 5.1 Mobile Work
134 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook