Labour Dispatch in China: Social Insurance, Payroll and the Ten Percent Cap
- Labour dispatch is lawful only for temporary, auxiliary or substitute positions, with temporary meaning a post lasting no more than six months and an auxiliary post requiring consultation with employee representatives and internal publicity.
劳务派遣只能在临时性、辅助性或替代性岗位上使用；临时性指存续不超过 6 个月，辅助性岗位须经职工代表大会或全体职工讨论并与工会协商后在企业内公示。
- The ten percent cap is measured against the host company’s total workforce — staff on employment contracts plus dispatched workers — and a group with several employing entities is assessed entity by entity.
10% 的上限以用工单位的用工总量为基数——订立劳动合同人数加上使用的被派遣劳动者人数；集团内多个用人主体须各自单独计算。
- Social insurance registration for cross-region dispatch must be at the host company’s location on local standards, and where the agency has no local branch the host company registers and pays on its behalf.
跨地区派遣应在用工单位所在地办理参保、按当地标准缴费；派遣单位在当地未设分支机构的，由用工单位代为办理参保并缴费。
- Contributing in a cheaper jurisdiction produces a record that does not match the workplace, which is the fact pattern enforcement treats as an untrue social insurance relationship.
为省成本在缴费成本较低的地区参保，会产生与实际工作地不符的记录，而这正是执法中认定为社保关系不实的事实形态。
- Under current VAT policy labour dispatch may use differential taxation at a 5% levy rate, deducting wages, benefits, social insurance and housing fund paid on the host’s behalf, but the deducted portion cannot be covered by a special VAT invoice.
按现行增值税政策口径，劳务派遣可选择差额征税，依 5% 征收率就扣除代用工单位支付的工资、福利、社保及住房公积金后的余额计税，被扣除部分不得开具增值税专用发票。
- Host company joint liability is statutory: where the arrangement causes loss to the dispatched worker, agency and host compensate jointly, and an outsourcing label does not change that if the substance is dispatch.
用工单位连带责任是法定责任：给被派遣劳动者造成损害的，派遣单位与用工单位承担连带赔偿责任；若实质是派遣，外包的名义不改变这一结果。
Labour Dispatch in China: Social Insurance, Payroll and the Ten Percent Cap | 中国劳务派遣：社保参保地、工资支付与 10% 用工比例
Overview
A foreign-invested company in China may use dispatched workers only inside a narrow exception to direct employment. The Labour Contract Law, Articles 57 to 67, sets the licensing, contract, equal-pay and joint-liability rules; the Interim Provisions on Labour Dispatch, issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security as Order No. 22 and effective 1 March 2014, supplies the operational detail — the three permitted position types, the ten percent cap, the workforce base, the cross-region social insurance rule and the treatment of arrangements dressed up as outsourcing.
None of this is new law, and treating it as new is the first mistake a compliance team can make. The rules have been stable for more than a decade; what changes is enforcement attention, which concentrates on the three points where paperwork and reality diverge: the position test, the ratio, and where social insurance is paid.
The position test and the ratio
Article 3 of the Interim Provisions permits dispatch only in temporary, auxiliary or substitute positions. Temporary means a post existing for no more than six months; auxiliary means a non-core post serving the main business; substitute means a post filled while the host’s own employee is on study leave, holiday or otherwise absent. For auxiliary posts a procedural condition is routinely skipped: the host must put the proposal to the employee representative congress or the whole workforce, consult the union or employee representatives on an equal footing, and publicise the outcome inside the company. Without that record the auxiliary post is not established, whatever the contract says.
Article 4 caps dispatched workers at ten percent of the host’s total workforce, defined as people on employment contracts plus dispatched workers. The base is not headcount in the ordinary sense and it moves: hiring permanent staff raises the permitted number of dispatched workers, while converting dispatched workers lowers both numerator and base. The calculation is per employing entity, so a group with a manufacturing, a trading and a service company cannot pool the ratio.
Two drafting rules sit alongside. Article 66 of the Labour Contract Law prohibits an employer from setting up a dispatch agency to supply its own or affiliated entities; Article 67 prohibits splitting a continuous engagement into successive short agreements to keep each within the temporary window.
Where the social insurance is paid
Article 18 of the Interim Provisions is the provision that costs foreign groups the most money. Where an agency dispatches workers across regions, it must register them for social insurance at the host’s location and pay on that location’s rules, with benefits enjoyed accordingly. Article 19 adds the mechanism: if the agency has a branch at the host location, the branch registers and pays; if it has none, the host registers and pays on the agency’s behalf.
The second branch is often overlooked in drafting, because it turns a commercial arrangement into a filing obligation of the user. A host in Shanghai receiving workers from an agency registered in a lower-cost province cannot simply accept the agency’s contribution receipts: either the agency establishes a local branch, or the host registers the workers itself — and that requires contracts, payroll data and the agency’s cooperation, which is what a cheap agency is least able to supply.
Contributing in a cheaper jurisdiction produces a record that does not match the workplace, and that mismatch is the fact pattern enforcement treats as an untrue social insurance relationship. Correction is retrospective: contributions recalculated on the host’s base, with late fees.
Payroll, withholding and VAT
Wages are paid by the agency, which is the employer and in practice the withholding agent for individual income tax; where the host pays workers directly, both the withholding position and the cost-deduction trail become unclear. Article 61 requires remuneration and working conditions for cross-region dispatch to follow the host location’s standards, so the payroll model must be built on the host’s pay structure.
On VAT, current policy lets a provider choose differential taxation: taxable sales are the total price and off-price fees less wages, benefits, social insurance and housing fund paid on the host’s behalf, taxed at a 5% levy rate under the simple method, or the full amount under the general method. Where the differential method is chosen, the amounts collected to fund those items cannot be covered by a special VAT invoice, only a general one. For a host the consequence is practical: input credit on a dispatch invoice is limited to the service fee, so procurement must compare net cost after credit, not the headline rate. Confirm the application against the VAT rules in force and the competent tax authority’s position.
Equal pay is the third cost line. Article 63 gives dispatched workers the right to equal pay with the host’s own employees in comparable posts, and Article 9 of the Interim Provisions requires post-related benefits without discrimination. In a dispute the evidence that matters is the host’s pay structure and comparison group, so the documents to keep in order are the host’s pay tables and job grading, not the agency’s invoices.
Outsourcing or dispatch: the substance test
Article 27 of the Interim Provisions closes the obvious escape: where an employer uses workers under the name of contracting or outsourcing but in the form of dispatch, the dispatch rules apply. The label is irrelevant, and three questions decide the character. Who directs the daily work? Who controls attendance, leave and discipline? Who bears the risk of the output — the contractor, who must deliver a result at an agreed price, or the host, who pays for hours?
Genuine outsourcing differs on all three: the contractor assigns supervisors, sets methods, manages its own attendance system, bears rework and penalty risk, and prices by output or service level. Where the host’s managers assign tasks, approve leave and assess individuals, the arrangement is dispatch whatever the contract is called, and reclassification brings the cap, equal pay and the insurance rule with it.
Representative offices and the service-company model
Article 25 of the Interim Provisions exempts representative offices of foreign enterprises and foreign financial institutions, together with crew employers using seafarers on international voyages, from the position test and the ratio cap — which is why the representative-office-through-service-company model has survived: the office cannot employ staff directly in the ordinary way, the service company is the employer, and the ratio and position limits do not bite.
But it is narrow: the service company still needs a dispatch licence if dispatching, social insurance must still be registered where the work is performed, and the office remains exposed to joint liability where the arrangement causes loss to the worker. That removes two constraints, not the employment relationship.
A compliance checklist
- Position file. For each dispatched role, record which category applies, the expected duration, and for auxiliary posts the consultation and publicity record.
- Ratio ledger. Count contract staff and dispatched workers per employing entity monthly rather than annually, and keep the calculation with the HR file.
- Social insurance mapping. For each agency, record the contributing jurisdiction, branch status at each host location, and who registers and pays; require evidence of local registration or accept host-side registration.
- Contract terms. Article 7 lists thirteen items the dispatch agreement must contain, from post and its nature to remuneration fixed on the equal-pay principle, service fee and breach liability.
- Equal-pay evidence. Keep the host’s job grading and pay bands, and document how a dispatched worker’s pay was benchmarked.
- Tax modelling. Model both VAT methods and compare net cost after input credit; confirm the invoice format before the first payment.
- Substance review. For every outsourcing contract, test the three questions above and record the conclusion, so that an inspection reads a documented assessment rather than an assertion.
Sources
- Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Interim Provisions on Labour Dispatch (Order No. 22), Articles 3–7, 18–20, 25 and 27: https://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2014/content_2667613.htm
- Labour Contract Law of the People’s Republic of China, Articles 57–67 and 92: https://www.gov.cn/flfg/2012-12/28/content_2305571.htm
- State Taxation Administration, answer on differential taxation for labour dispatch under Cai Shui No. 47 of 2016: https://www.chinatax.gov.cn/chinatax/n810356/n3255681/c5170429/content.html
- State Taxation Administration 12366 platform, answer distinguishing labour dispatch from human resources outsourcing: https://12366.chinatax.gov.cn/nszx/onlinemessage/detail?id=734224c746fe43b3a963a9ad4177a00b
- State Taxation Administration 12366 platform, answer on invoicing under the differential taxation function: https://12366.chinatax.gov.cn/nszx/onlinemessage/detail?id=1fb2cb1fb4104f07b5bafe40c6b87247
中国劳务派遣：社保参保地、工资支付与 10% 用工比例
概述
外资企业在中国只能在直接用工之外的一道窄门里使用派遣员工。《劳动合同法》第五十七条至第六十七条规定了许可、合同、同工同酬与连带责任；《劳务派遣暂行规定》（人力资源和社会保障部令第 22 号，2014 年 3 月 1 日施行）提供了操作细节——三类岗位、10% 比例、用工总量口径、跨地区参保规则，以及名为外包实为派遣的处理。
这些都不是新法，把它当成新法来对待，是合规团队最容易犯的第一个错误。规则十余年未变；变化的是执法关注度，而关注点集中在文书与事实分离的三处：岗位性质、比例、参保地。
岗位性质与比例
《劳务派遣暂行规定》第三条只允许在临时性、辅助性或替代性岗位上派遣。临时性指存续时间不超过 6 个月的岗位；辅助性指为主营业务岗位提供服务的非主营业务岗位；替代性指用工单位劳动者脱产学习、休假等期间可由他人替代的岗位。辅助性岗位有一道经常被跳过的程序：用工单位应当将方案提交职工代表大会或全体职工讨论、提出方案和意见，与工会或职工代表平等协商确定，并在单位内公示。没有这份记录，辅助性岗位就没有成立，合同怎么写都不算。
第四条将被派遣劳动者数量限制在用工总量的 10%，用工总量指订立劳动合同人数与使用的被派遣劳动者人数之和。基数因此不是通常意义上的在册人数，而且是变动的：多招正式员工会抬高可用的派遣人数，把派遣员工转为正式员工则同时降低分子与基数。比例按用人主体分别计算，集团下有制造、贸易与服务公司的，不能合并计算。
另有两道起草规则并行。第六十六条禁止用人单位设立劳务派遣单位向本单位或所属单位派遣劳动者；第六十七条禁止将连续用工期限分割订立数个短期协议。
社保在哪里缴
第十八条是让外资集团付出代价最大的条款。劳务派遣单位跨地区派遣的，应当在用工单位所在地为被派遣劳动者参加社会保险，按照用工单位所在地的规定缴纳，被派遣劳动者按国家规定享受待遇。第十九条补上机制：派遣单位在用工单位所在地设有分支机构的，由分支机构办理参保缴费；未设分支机构的，由用工单位代派遣单位办理参保缴费。
后半句在合同起草中常被忽略，因为它把一项商业安排变成了用工方的申报义务。上海的一家用工单位接收来自低缴费成本省份的派遣员工，不能只收下缴费凭证了事：要么派遣单位在当地设立分支机构，要么用工单位自己去参保——而后者需要劳动合同、工资数据与派遣单位的配合，这恰恰是低价派遣公司最不擅长提供的。
为省成本在缴费成本较低的地区参保，会产生与实际工作地不符的记录，而这种不匹配正是执法中认定为社保关系不实的事实形态。纠正具有溯及力：按用工单位所在地基数重新计算，加收滞纳金。
工资支付、扣缴与增值税
工资由派遣单位发放，它是用人单位，实务中也是个人所得税的扣缴义务人；若由用工单位直接发放，扣缴地位与费用列支链条都会变得不清楚。第六十一条要求跨地区派遣的劳动报酬和劳动条件按用工单位所在地标准执行，这意味着薪酬模型要按用工单位的薪酬结构搭建。
增值税方面，现行政策允许派遣服务选择差额征税：以取得的全部价款和价外费用，扣除代用工单位支付给被派遣劳动者的工资、福利和为其办理社会保险及住房公积金后的余额为销售额，按简易计税方法依 5% 征收率计算；也可以选择全额按一般计税方法计算。选择差额征税的，向用工单位收取用于支付工资、福利、社保及住房公积金的费用不得开具增值税专用发票，可以开具普通发票。对用工单位而言，后果是实际的：派遣发票可抵扣的进项仅限于服务费部分，因此采购比价要比扣除进项后的净成本，而不是票面费率。具体适用应以现行增值税规定和主管税务机关口径为准。
同工同酬是第三条成本线。第六十三条赋予被派遣劳动者与用工单位同类岗位劳动者同工同酬的权利，第九条要求用工单位提供与岗位相关的福利待遇、不得歧视。发生争议时，真正起作用的证据是用工单位自己的薪酬结构与可比岗位，因此需要保持整齐的是岗位等级表与薪酬带宽，而不是派遣单位的发票。
外包还是派遣：实质判断
第二十七条堵住了最明显的出口：用人单位以承揽、外包等名义，按劳务派遣用工形式使用劳动者的，按派遣处理。名义因此不重要，三个问题决定性质。谁指挥日常工作？谁掌握考勤、请假与纪律？谁承担成果风险——按约定价格交付成果的承包方，还是按工时付费的用工单位？
真正的外包在这三个维度上都不同：承包方派出管理人员、自行决定作业方法、用自己的系统管理考勤、承担返工风险、按产出计价。反之，若由用工单位的直线经理分派任务、审批请假、考核个人，那么无论合同叫什么，都是派遣，而重新定性会把比例、同工同酬与参保地规则一并带进来。
代表处与服务公司模式
第二十五条把外国企业常驻代表机构、外国金融机构驻华代表机构，以及以劳务派遣形式使用国际远洋海员的船员用人单位，排除在岗位性质与用工比例限制之外。这条豁免正是”代表处通过外服公司配备人员”的模式得以延续的原因：代表处本身不能以通常方式直接用人，服务公司是用人单位，比例与岗位限制不适用。
豁免的范围很窄，并不免除其他义务。服务公司若从事派遣仍须持有劳务派遣经营许可证，社保仍须在工作地参保，造成劳动者损害时代表处仍可能承担连带责任。把这条豁免理解为可以在核心职能上随意使用派遣人员的通行证，是对第二十五条的误读：它去掉的是两项限制，不是劳动关系本身。
合规清单
- 岗位档案。为每个派遣岗位记录属于三类中的哪一类、预计存续期间；辅助性岗位另存协商与公示记录。
- 比例台账。按用人主体分别统计合同制员工与派遣员工，按月而非按年重算，计算过程与人力资源档案一并留存。
- 参保地图。对每家派遣单位记录参保地、在各工作地是否设有分支机构、由谁办理参保缴费；要求派遣单位提供当地参保凭证，或接受用工方参保。
- 协议条款。第七条规定派遣协议应载明十三项内容，从岗位名称与性质到同工同酬原则下的报酬、服务费与违约责任。
- 同工同酬证据。保存用工单位的岗位等级与薪酬带宽，并记录派遣员工薪酬的比对方法。
- 税务测算。两种增值税方法都测算，比较扣除进项后的净成本；首笔付款前确认开票方式。
- 实质复核。对每份外包合同跑一遍上述三个问题并写下结论，让日后检查读到有记录的评估，而不是一句主张。
来源
- 人力资源和社会保障部《劳务派遣暂行规定》（部令第 22 号）第三条至第七条、第十八条至第二十条、第二十五条、第二十七条：https://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2014/content_2667613.htm
- 《中华人民共和国劳动合同法》第五十七条至第六十七条、第九十二条：https://www.gov.cn/flfg/2012-12/28/content_2305571.htm
- 国家税务总局·劳务派遣服务差额征税（财税〔2016〕47 号）政策答复：https://www.chinatax.gov.cn/chinatax/n810356/n3255681/c5170429/content.html
- 国家税务总局 12366 纳税服务平台·劳务派遣与人力资源外包增值税计税方式区分答复：https://12366.chinatax.gov.cn/nszx/onlinemessage/detail?id=734224c746fe43b3a963a9ad4177a00b
- 国家税务总局 12366 纳税服务平台·差额征税开票方式答复：https://12366.chinatax.gov.cn/nszx/onlinemessage/detail?id=1fb2cb1fb4104f07b5bafe40c6b87247