Voluntary leave without payment to begin with (4-4)

I believe the answer is:

free-will

'voluntary' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'leave without payment to begin with' is the wordplay.
'leave' becomes 'will' (synonyms).
'without payment' becomes 'free' (free of charge).
'to begin with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'will' after 'free' is 'FREE-WILL'.

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app