Employment flagship · Foreigner permit timeline · Entity choice.
A WFOE or PRC company hires directly with a written labour contract, social-insurance and housing-fund enrolment, and a personnel file. A representative office generally cannot employ PRC staff the same way — it uses a qualified dispatch agency. There is no at-will employment: probation is still “for cause,” and two consecutive fixed terms (or ten years) push toward an open-term contract. Budget employer SI/HF at roughly 30–40% on top of cash salary (city rates differ). A foreigner in that seat also needs a Work Permit — do not start them on an M visa. Paying a local personally from a US payroll is not a workaround.
At a glance
| Question | Short answer |
|---|---|
| Can an RO hire like a WFOE? | Usually no. Dispatch is the normal RO path. |
| Is a US offer letter enough? | No. Use a China-compliant written labour contract. |
| Must we pay social insurance? | Yes for employees working in China, unless a real bilateral exemption applies. |
| Can we fire during probation for any reason? | No. Probation still needs a statutory ground and process. |
| Fully loaded cost? | Often ~130–145 on 100 of cash salary before bonus — orientation only. |
| First hire is a foreigner? | Run this page plus the work-permit timeline. |
Scope and legal framework
Labour Contract Law (written contract, probation, open-term). A written contract is required. Probation length is capped by contract term. After two consecutive fixed-term contracts (or ten years), the employee may claim an open-term contract. Termination grounds are statutory, not at-will.
Social Insurance Law + housing-fund rules. Employers enrol employees and pay employer contributions. Foreign staff generally participate unless a bilateral social-security agreement actually exempts them.
RO / dispatch practice. A representative office is not a full PRC employer. Local staff are typically employed via a licensed dispatcher. That dispatcher — not the foreign parent — is on the labour contract.
Practical workflow
- Confirm the employing entity (WFOE vs RO vs dispatcher).
- Open SI and housing-fund accounts before Day 1 if they are not live.
- Issue a bilingual or Chinese labour contract that matches the Law — term, job, pay, location, probation.
- Enrol SI/HF on time; withhold IIT.
- Keep the personnel file (ID, contract, handbook ack, time records).
- If the seat is a foreigner, start the permit sequence in parallel — no work until FWP.
Common mistakes
- English HQ templates with at-will and US PTO only.
- Paying WeChat cash “until the WFOE is ready.”
- Skipping housing fund because “expats do not care.”
- Rolling a second one-year term without an open-term plan.
Action checklist
- Name the legal employer on a single slide.
- Get SI/HF account numbers.
- Localise the contract; drop at-will.
- Price SI/HF before you approve the cash salary.
- If foreign: lock FWP before the start date.
- Issue a short handbook and have it signed.
Find a China employment lawyer
The Employment & Labor listings below are live DJ Classifieds profiles. Directory →
