In this article, we provide information about China rep office employment rules:
- How many foreigners can work for the representative office?
- Can the rep office directly hire Chinese employees?
How many foreigners can work for the Representative Office?
A rep Office under Chinese laws may have one chief representative and no more than three general representatives. The representatives, chief or general, are to be appointed by the
foreign parent company upon registering the Rep Office with Chinese authorities.
Can the rep office directly hire Chinese employees?
According to the Interim Provisions regarding Administration of Representative Offices of Foreign Enterprises, A Rep Office cannot directly hire Chinese employees. They shall hire them through an employee leasing/talent dispatching employment contract provided by a licensed HR agency in China such as HROne. In this case, the licensed HR agency company would sign the employment contract with the Rep office employees, and then all these employees would work for the Rep office.
It is important to note that the Rep Office needs a good contract with a Chinese leasing/dispatch company and also must make sure that the Chinese leasing/dispatch company has an agreement with the Chinese workers that protects the foreign company. Just by way of example, if the foreign company wishes to protect its trade secrets, it should make sure that the employment agreement between the Chinese workers and the Chinese dispatch company mandates that the employees not reveal trade secrets of the foreign company.
