I wonder if the asker was deliberatly trying to avoid saying "For free", while still wanting to not do anything at any cost. They might already know they're be

I wonder if the asker was deliberatly trying to avoid saying "For free", while still wanting to not do anything at any cost. They might already know they're being unreasonable, and are just hoping to avoid having to think about or admit it. Then again I'm an outrageous cynic who thinks that any organization slowly tends towards screwing their employees unless careful, deliberate measures are taken.