Except having left Labour (5)
I believe the answer is:
slave
'labour' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with social activities as well as being verbs in their base form.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'except having left' is the wordplay.
'except' becomes 'save' (I've seen this before).
'having' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'save' going around 'l' is 'SLAVE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for slave that I've seen before include "Forced labourer" , "Unpaid worker" , "One in bondage" , "Person owned for work" , "Person who is the property of another" .)