Bosses lacking independence. They do the cooking (5)
I believe the answer is:
chefs
'they do the cooking' is the definition.
The definition suggests an adverb but the answer is not.
'bosses lacking independence' is the wordplay.
'bosses' becomes 'chiefs' ('chief' can be a synonym of 'boss').
'lacking' is a deletion indicator.
'independence' becomes 'I'.
'chiefs' with 'i' taken out is 'CHEFS'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for chefs that I've seen before include "Top cooks" , "Professional cooks" .)