When someone offers a favor, but in reality, they want you do the majority of the work.
Translated from French, this is a "let them do it" favor.
Darius: "The company laid me off, but they are willing to give me a strong recommendation during my job search."
Maddy: "Sounds like a laissez-faire faveur."
Darius: "Why do you say that?"
Maddy: "That happened to me once. It was all cool until the CEO told me to write my own recommendation for them to edit and return to me on company letterhead."