I’ve lost the original copy of my work permit somehow during moving house. How can I apply for another copy? I already have the ARC from it, so that bit is OK, but I understand that I need the work permit if my company want to rehire me when the original work permit expires (I’m here as a white collar professional not a teacher, and to my understanding I can use the original work permit instead of resubmitting all of my documentation to prove I meet the white collar professional documentation) and also if I want to apply for an APRC at any point.
I would contact the original issuing authority and ask them what to do. Your right to work per se is not gone, however your proof of it is. I had friends losing ARC’s and still being let into the country without a problem, however being told to go and apply for a replacement one.
Anyways, the work permit is not yours. You have a copy but the real original is in your company’s hands. That is why they can eliminate it or extend it at will. Your right to work belongs to them, not you. The “right” to work you have, that extends the “visa” that allows you to have an ARC, means that such an ARC is dependent on the work permit which belongs to your company, not you. Such right, as long as the company is Ok with it, lives on, whether the paperwork is there or not. Such “work permit” as you describe is just a letter saying that you have been accepted as complying with all requisites. But it is not transferable to other companies, for example.