Social workers want experience with non-subsidised organisations to be taken into account when fixing pay.
The Social Workers General Union said policy which did not recognise work on such schemes conflicted with the Government's policy of trying to introduce competition to the sector.
'It is unfair because salary should be commensurate with experience,' the union's chairman, Choi Shing-kiu, said.
Non-subsidised organisations usually run pilot projects which have to prove a service is worthwhile before government funding is approved.
Initial support comes from the Community Chest and it can take several years before official funding is provided.
Mr Choi said it was unfair that social workers who had worked for several years on a pilot project had to start at the lowest salary point once the organisation became subsidised.
Many graduates started their careers on such schemes because of a lack of jobs elsewhere.
