An investigation by the Sunday Times has discovered the Scottish government is still paying 800 public sector workers - despite their posts having been axed.
Hundreds of NHS, central government, council and quango workers who no longer have a fixed role are costing the public purse £27million a year in salaries due to the SNP's no-redundancies policy.
First Minister John Swinney has been asked by the Scottish Liberal Democrats to explain the "bizarre" situation, while the Scottish Conservatives have described it as a misuse of public funds, demanding the auditor general investigate.
The Times reports Reform UK MSP Max Bannerman will raise the matter in Holyrood, putting pressure on public services reform secretary Ivan McKee.
Bannerman said: “This is a scandalous daylight robbery of the Scottish taxpayer driven by the SNP’s refusal to allow compulsory redundancies and we know it’s likely to be just the tip of the iceberg.
"No private company would tolerate this kind of dead weight and yet taxpayers in Scotland have been bankrolling hundreds of non-jobs, in some cases for years on end."
A Scottish government spokesman told The Times the no-redundancies policy would remain in place. He said: “Public bodies are expected to ensure that they deliver value for money and to see that all staff, including those who are redeployed, are engaged in appropriate work for their pay scale.
“Public bodies manage their workforce through steps such as redeployment, attrition, vacancy management, reskilling and, where necessary, voluntary severance. These tools will form part of our work to deliver public service reform.”