We have a factory employee (4 years service) who in 2021 changed their shift pattern (at request of company) to start at 05:30. the rest of the team start at 07:30am. Today the GM has issued a contract change (over 60 days notice) for him to change his shift pattern back to the same 07:30am start that everyone else does. The employee has responded to this with a flexible working request to keep his hours the same as they are now, but different from the rest. he said he will hand in his notice if he cant stay on these hours because of his partners childcare needs. the employee is a tricky character so this would work in the managements favour, when I've mentioned constructive dismissal they don't seem to care about the prospect of court! the GM tends to 'shoot from the hip' when making decisions so I'm waiting until the HR manager is back tomorrow before handing the request form in to him. I guess what I'm asking is, other than mention constructive criticism, how can I ensure the GM gives the request proper consideration rather use it as an easy way to get rid of a tricky character? thanks in advance