FOREIGN teachers looking for some spending money often take jobs over the summer, but sometimes that work is illegal and can result in a fine, detention and possibly even deportation.

    There are some rules that foreign teachers need to follow when taking on summer employment.

    Foreign teachers can only legally work at the institutions that have sponsored their employment in China. That means foreigners cannot work for a third-party school or institution. Foreign teachers working at any other institutions are working illegally.

    Expats can check with the city’s human resources and social security bureau for the list of the 336 intuitions that can hire foreign teachers in Shenzhen.

    The institutions include universities, high schools, international schools, primary schools, some hospitals and language training centers.

    To legally work at the listed intuitions, a foreign teacher needs to have a residence permit along with a foreign expert’s certificate.

    It is the responsibility of the institution to provide the proper work permits.

    A foreign teacher should have received a residence permit soon after arriving in China. The foreign expert’s certificate is issued by the Shenzhen Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs.

    To receive the permits, teachers are required to have at least a bachelor’s degree and two years of related work experience.

    A May report in Shenzhen Special Zone Daily estimated that 80 percent of foreign teachers are employed illegally in Shenzhen, often working without the required residence permit and foreign experts permit.

    Employers offering illegal employment can be reported at 12333.

    (Han Ximin, Jin Kaiyuan)