ghost employee; phantom employee; bogus employee
Refers to a person who is officially on the payroll but does not actually work, or whose existence is fabricated for fraudulent purposes such as embezzlement or tax evasion.
Several ghost employees were discovered at that company.
He was embezzling salaries using phantom employees.
名ばかり社員 refers to an employee in name only, often implying a nominal position without real authority or work, but not necessarily fraudulent. 幽霊社員 specifically implies a non-existent or non-working person on the payroll, often for illegal purposes.
Compound of 幽霊 (ghost) and 社員 (company employee). The term likens a non-existent or non-working employee to a ghost.