2 Answers

to use in  a way that helps the user, but not the one or thing  being used

“Treated like a rented mule.” To receive nothing for your work. To be sold like a slave with the expectation of your continuing service and value to the business.  Payment of a minimum hourly wage for your time and work that yields a startling and unexpected benefit for the company.  Exploitation is the underlying basis for all crime and punishment.

exploit
verb |?k?spl??t, ?k-| [ with obj. ]
1 make full use of and derive benefit from (a resource): 500 companies sprang up to exploit this new technology.
2 make use of (a situation) in a way considered unfair or underhand: the company was exploiting a legal loophole.
• benefit unfairly from the work of (someone), typically by overworking or underpaying them: women are exploited in the workplace.
noun |??kspl??t|
a bold or daring feat.
DERIVATIVES
exploitable |?k?spl??t?b(?)l, ?k-|adjective,
exploiter noun
ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French esploit (noun), based on Latin explicare ‘unfold’ (see explicate). The early notion of ‘success, progress’ gave rise to the sense ‘attempt to capture’, ‘military expedition’, hence the current sense of the noun. Verb senses (mid 19th cent.) are from modern French exploiter .