If china labor arbitration wrongful expat is on your desk, start by uploading the notice, agreement, order or correspondence to Caira. Ask about China law, draft letters or forms, and upload files for review.
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Check the dismissal date, deadline, contract, warnings, pay records and messages first.
For RMB 10 million of salary, bonus or severance, a careful chronology can change the negotiation.
Preserve lawful evidence, but avoid taking confidential files you should not access.
Use Caira to build a timeline and draft a response checklist.
A sudden dismissal in China can feel disorienting for a foreign employee because employment, pay, housing, tax, and immigration questions may all collide at once. The employer may call it termination, redundancy, probation failure, contract expiry, misconduct, or mutual separation. The employee may call it wrongful dismissal. Before arguing over labels, organize the facts that a labor arbitration committee, mediator, or Caira will need to see.
Start with the legal forum and limits
The official source stack in the input is the Labor Contract Law through the NPC law database, the Labor Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Law through official court publication, and MOHRSS labor arbitration policy pages. Those sources are the authority for the employment and arbitration framework. MOHRSS and SPC typical-case searches, China Judgments Online, and the People's Court Case Database can be practical examples, but they do not can help a foreign employee's remedy.
Labor disputes in China commonly begin with labor arbitration before court litigation. The Labor Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Law covers disputes about confirming labor relationships, contract performance, termination, resignation, remuneration, economic compensation, and related employment matters. It also places responsibility on parties to support their claims with evidence, with special rules where relevant evidence is controlled by the employer.
Timing can be strict, so do not spend months negotiating informally if the claim is valuable.
Clarify your employment status
Foreign employees should check whether the formal employer, work permit sponsor, payroll entity, and day-to-day manager are the same. A global group may have a China subsidiary, representative office, dispatch arrangement, overseas payroll, or service company in the background. Remedies can turn on who employed you in China and whether your work authorization matched the job and location.
Collect the labor contract, offer letter, work permit documents, residence permit, payroll records, tax records, social insurance records if any, company handbook, bonus plan, noncompete agreement, and termination notice. If the employer refuses to issue a written notice, preserve messages, meeting invitations, HR emails, access cutoff records, and any instruction not to return to work.
Evidence checklist
Core relationship: labor contract, renewal documents, work permit, residence permit, offer letter, job description, probation terms, and employer registration details.
Termination record: dismissal letter, HR chats, meeting notes, access cancellation, final settlement proposal, resignation form, and any mutual-separation agreement.
Performance and conduct: targets, reviews, warnings, attendance records, manager approvals, project delivery proof, client feedback, and disciplinary policies.
Money claims: payslips, bank transfers, tax withholding records, unpaid salary, overtime records, bonus or commission plan, reimbursement claims, and severance calculation offered.
Immigration and exit issues: permit expiry dates, employer cancellation notices, passport appointments, accommodation registration, and communications about transfer or departure.
Simplified Chinese arbitration request checklist
Use this as a bilingual evidence label, not as a complete pleading:
申请人身份: 护照姓名、国籍、联系方式、在华住址。
被申请人信息: 公司名称、统一社会信用代码、注册地址、实际办公地址。
劳动关系证据: 劳动合同、工作许可证、居留许可、工资流水、个税记录。
解除事实: 解除通知、邮件、企业微信/钉钉记录、门禁或系统权限记录。
仲裁请求: 工资、经济补偿或赔偿金、奖金、未休年假工资、证明文件等。
证据目录: 每份证据编号、日期、来源、证明目的。
Be careful before signing
Many dismissal disputes are shaped by the first document signed after the meeting. A resignation letter, mutual termination agreement, final settlement, release, or Chinese-only form may later be used to argue that the employee left voluntarily or settled all claims. If you do not understand a document, do not treat it as a harmless HR form. Ask for a bilingual copy or translation, keep a photo of what was presented, and get advice before signing where significant salary, bonus, severance, noncompete, or immigration consequences are involved.
At the same time, avoid escalating in ways that damage the file. Do not remove confidential customer data, use another employee's login, threaten managers, or post accusations online. Preserve evidence lawfully and focus on records tied to the claim.
Foreign-worker complications
A foreign employee's dismissal may trigger work permit and residence-permit steps separate from the labor claim. The arbitration committee may evaluate employment rights, but immigration practice can create immediate timing questions. Track permit expiry, employer reporting, residence registration, and whether a new employer can sponsor a transfer. If the employer is pressuring immediate departure, get urgent local immigration advice as well as employment advice.
What a strong file looks like
A strong arbitration preparation file has a dated chronology, a list of claims, a list of likely employer defenses, and an evidence table. For example: the employer says probation performance was poor; the employee points to written targets, positive review messages, and absence of required warnings. The employer says the contract expired; the employee points to continued work, payroll, and renewal discussions. No article can promise compensation or reinstatement. The goal is to make the facts clear enough that a Caira, mediator, or arbitrator can assess them quickly.
Sources
MOHRSS labour contract materials
NPC law database: labour dispute mediation and arbitration law
local HRSS or labour arbitration commission
court or arbitration guidance
local service platform instructions
This article is general information, not legal, financial, medical or tax advice.
