diff --git a/public/biopet-core/src/main/scala/nl/lumc/sasc/biopet/core/BiopetCommandLineFunction.scala b/public/biopet-core/src/main/scala/nl/lumc/sasc/biopet/core/BiopetCommandLineFunction.scala
index a7bdaf92f805e180968c1d7af36eb10f81e03eff..c03c0a717b753c057c34fa687847a4fb28cf0525 100644
--- a/public/biopet-core/src/main/scala/nl/lumc/sasc/biopet/core/BiopetCommandLineFunction.scala
+++ b/public/biopet-core/src/main/scala/nl/lumc/sasc/biopet/core/BiopetCommandLineFunction.scala
@@ -50,9 +50,12 @@ trait BiopetCommandLineFunction extends CommandLineResources { biopetFunction =>
     writer.println("set -eubf")
     writer.println("set -o pipefail")
     lines.foreach(writer.println)
+    jobDelayTime.foreach(x => writer.println(s"sleep $x"))
     writer.close()
   }
 
+  var jobDelayTime: Option[Int] = config("job_delay_time")
+
   // This overrides the default "sh" from queue. For Biopet the default is "bash"
   updateJobRun = {
     case jt: JobTemplate =>