智仁原创 | 外国人是否适用无固定期限劳动合同的规定

导读：对于未取得《外国人永久居留证》的外国人，用人单位与被聘用的外国人应依法订立劳动合同，劳动合同的期限最长不得超过五年。

《外国人在中国就业管理规定》第二条“本规定所称外国人，指依照《中华人民共和国国籍法》规定不具有中国国籍的人员。本规定所称外国人在中国就业，指没有取得定居权的外国人在中国境内依法从事社会劳动并获取劳动报酬的行为。”第十七条规定“用人单位与被聘用的外国人应依法订立劳动合同。劳动合同的期限最长不得超过五年。劳动合同期限届满即行终止，但按本规定第十八条的规定履行审批手续后可以续订。”

根据以上规定，外国人要分为有定居权的外国人和无定居权的外国人，此处讨论的外国人是指没有中国国籍，也没有取得中国定居权的外国人。我国《劳动合同法》没有对劳动者做国籍的界定，我们认为中国人和外国人都可以是劳动者，中国人年满18周岁，智力发育正常，就可以为企业提供劳动力；外国人依法取得劳动用工许可证，也当然可以为中国企业提供劳动，提供劳动就是劳动者，故中国人和外国人在中国都可以是劳动者，是劳动者就应当在《劳动合同法》的保护之列。我国《劳动合同法》有关于无固定期限劳动合同的规定，无固定期限劳动合同是否适用外国人呢？

第一、外国人在华取得了《外国人永久居留证》。根据我国《外国人在中国永久居留享有相关待遇的办法》的规定，凡持有中国《外国人永久居留证》的外籍人员，除政治权利和法律法规规定不可享有的特定权利和义务外，原则上和中国公民享有相同权利，承担相同义务。

对于持有《外国人永久居留证》的外国人，当然享有《劳动合同法》规定的无固定期限劳动合同的签订权，用人单位可以和他签订无固定期限的劳动合同，也应当按照《劳动合同法》的规定，在他符合签订无固定期限劳动合同条件时，主动与其签订无固定期限劳动合同。

第二、无固定期限劳动合同从字面理解是不具有时间的限制，劳动者要履行无固定期限劳动合同，需要连续、不定期自由居住在中国，对于无永久居留证的外国人，能够居住在中国的时间不确定，其不具备履行无固定期限劳动合同的客观条件。对于未取《外国人永久居留证》的外国人，用人单位与之签订无固定期限劳动合同的意义不大，毕竟用人单位也不能保证该外国人的就业许可证、居留证到期后一定能得到相关部门延期批准。一旦不能得相关部门的批准，签订的无固定期限劳动合同就无法继续履行，成了一纸空文，在司法实践中，法院通常会以劳动合同关于无固定期限的约定违反了法律的强制性规定为由被判定为无效约定。

以下将以一则案例说明这个问题。 

【案件事实】邵某为在中国工作的加拿大籍人，与中国某公司签订无固定期限劳动合同，后邵某与公司产生纠纷，诉至法院。

【一审法院认为】外国人在国内就业的，仅在最低工资标准、工作时间、休息休假、劳动安全卫生以及社会保险五个方面适用我国劳动基准法的规定，其余事项可按照双方约定或实际履行的内容予以确定。本案的争议焦点在于公司是否系违法终止劳动合同。根据《外国人在中国就业管理规定》，用人单位与被聘用的外国人应依法订立劳动合同。劳动合同的期限最长不得超过五年。《外国人在中国就业管理规定》系经国务院批准并相关部委发布，属于行政法规性质，其中外国人在中国就业必须依法取得就业证系强制性规范。《劳动法》以及《劳动合同法》均将违反法律、行政法规的强制性规定作为劳动合同无效的要件，故当事人订立劳动合同必须遵守合法原则。因此双方约定的劳动合同期限为无固定期限的条款无效。

【二审法院认为】外国人在我国的劳动合同期限最长不超过5年是强制性规范，一审法院据此认定双方约定的劳动合同期限为无固定期限的条款无效，并无不当。

（来源：上海市第一中级人民法院（2022）沪01民终1965号民事判决书）

Whether Foreigners Are Subject to Open-ended Employment Contracts

Article 2 of the Rules for the Administration of Employment of Foreigners in China regulates “The term ‘foreigners’ in these Rules refers to the persons，who do not have Chinese nationality under the Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China． The term ‘employment of foreigners in China’ in these Rules refers to acts of foreigners without permanent residence status to engage in remunerative work within Chinese territory in accordance with it laws.” Article 17 stipulates  “The employer and its foreign employee shall，in accordance with law，conclude a labor contract，the term of which shall not exceed five years.Such contract may be renewed upon expiration after the completion of clearance process.”

According to the above provisions, foreigners are to be divided into foreigners with the permanent residence and foreigners without the permanent residence. The foreigners discussed here are those who do not have Chinese nationality and have not obtained the permanent residence. Labor Contract Law of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter called Labor Contract Law)does not limit the nationality of laborers，so both Chinese and foreigners can be laborers in China. Chinese who have reached the age of 18 and have civil competence can provide labor for enterprises; foreigners who have obtained labor employment permits in accordance with Chinese law can also provide labor for enterprises registered in China. Therefore, both Chinese and foreigners can be employed in China, and they shall be protected by the Labor Contract Law .Labor Contract Law has regulations on open-ended employment contracts.Whether the open-ended employment contract apply to foreigners？We will discuss this issue in this paper from two aspects.

First, if a foreigner has obtained the Foreigner’s Permanent Residence right in China, according to the provisions of China's Measures for Foreigners to Enjoy Relevant Treatment for Permanent Residence in China, all foreigners holding the Foreigner’s Permanent Residence Card in China shall, in principle, enjoy the same rights and bear the same obligations as Chinese citizens, except for political rights and specific rights and obligations that they may not enjoy under laws and regulations of China.

For a foreigner holding the Foreigner’s Permanent Residence Card, he certainly enjoys the right to enter into an open-ended employment contract as stipulated in the Labor Contract Law. The employer could enter into an open-ended employment contract with him, and shall also take the initiative to enter into an open-ended employment contract with him when he meets the conditions according to the provisions of the Labor Contract Law.

Second, for foreigners who have not obtained the Foreigner’s Permanent Residence Card, they don’t have the objective condition of staying in China without time limitation.So it is not very meaningful for the employer to sign an open-ended employment contract with them, because the employer cannot guarantee that the foreigners' employment permit and residence permit will be approved by the authorities upon expiration. Once the approval of the authorities is not obtained, the signed open-ended employment contract cannot be carried out.

In China’s judicial practice, people’s courts support this view.

林芳

何逸琳