Nick's hours at work stretched by work left (8)
I believe the answer is:
shoplift
'nick's' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'at work stretched by work left' is the wordplay.
'at' says to put letters next to each other.
'work' becomes 'shop' (shop is a kind of work).
'stretched by work left' becomes 'lift' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'shop' next to 'lift' is 'SHOPLIFT'.
'hours' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. It may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for shoplift that I've seen before include "Abstract" , "Appropriate" , "Swipe" , "Steal from retail outlet" , "Knock off" .)