A method and system for identifying an off-schedule software agent operating in a computer system is disclosed. When a software agent enters a queue a start time is associated with the agent. A queue threshold is established for the agent, wherein the queue threshold indicates the maximum length of time that an agent should be in the queue. A clock time is compared to the start time and if the result exceeds the threshold, the agent is flagged as being a late agent. The computer system may then address the late agent by, for example, changing an operating priority associated with the agent, increasing the threshold, removing the agent from the queue, or by notifying other agents relying on the flagged agent.