Can you elaborate on your comment about why working a weekend as a contractor is a sure way to lose people's respect? I don't understand.
Flip side, working for free on an hourly job is...baffling. The arrangement is: you work an hour, they pay you for an hour. You start working more than they want to pay you for, they get concerned that you're going to bill them for it. If they're willing to pay for whatever you can put in, they get concerned that you're not being compensated - nay, refusing compensation - when you should be. Was the time he spent really something they wanted him to do?