diff --git a/cronjobs/run-maintenance.sh b/cronjobs/run-maintenance.sh
index 54799323..3651958a 100755
--- a/cronjobs/run-maintenance.sh
+++ b/cronjobs/run-maintenance.sh
@@ -47,16 +47,25 @@ fi
 ME=$( basename $0 )
 
 # Overwrite some settings via command line arguments
-while getopts "hfvp:d:" opt; do
+while getopts "hfvt:p:d:" opt; do
   case "$opt" in
     h|\?)
-      echo "Usage: $0 [-v] [-p PHP_BINARY] [-d SUBFOLDER]";
+      echo "Usage: $0 [-v] [-f] [-t TIME_IN_SEC] [-p PHP_BINARY] [-d SUBFOLDER]";
       exit 0
       ;;
     v) VERBOSE=1 ;;
     f) PHP_OPTS="$PHP_OPTS -f";;
     p) PHP_BIN=$OPTARG ;;
     d) SUBFOLDER=$OPTARG ;;
+    t)
+      if [[ $OPTARG =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+        TIMEOUT=$OPTARG
+        PHP_OPTS="$PHP_OPTS -t $OPTARG"
+      else
+        echo "Option -t requires an integer" >&2
+        exit 1
+      fi
+    ;;
     :)
       echo "Option -$OPTARG requires an argument." >&2
       exit 1
@@ -102,6 +111,16 @@ fi
 # Our PID of this shell
 PID=$$
 
+# If $PIDFILE exists and older than the time specified by -t, remove it.
+if [[ -e $PIDFILE ]]; then
+  if [[ -n $TIMEOUT ]] && \
+     [[ $(( $(date +%s) - $(stat -c %Y $PIDFILE) )) -gt $TIMEOUT ]]; then
+    echo "$PIDFILE exists but older than the time you specified in -t option ($TIMEOUT sec)."
+    echo "Removing PID file."
+    rm $PIDFILE
+  fi
+fi
+
 if [[ -e $PIDFILE ]]; then
   echo "Cron seems to be running already"
   RUNPID=$( cat $PIDFILE )
diff --git a/cronjobs/run-payout.sh b/cronjobs/run-payout.sh
index 5534122f..0ec8b187 100755
--- a/cronjobs/run-payout.sh
+++ b/cronjobs/run-payout.sh
@@ -46,17 +46,25 @@ fi
 # My own name
 ME=$( basename $0 )
 
-# Overwrite some settings via command line arguments
-while getopts "hfvp:d:" opt; do
+while getopts "hfvt:p:d:" opt; do
   case "$opt" in
     h|\?)
-      echo "Usage: $0 [-v] [-p PHP_BINARY] [-d SUBFOLDER]";
+      echo "Usage: $0 [-v] [-f] [-t TIME_IN_SEC] [-p PHP_BINARY] [-d SUBFOLDER]";
       exit 0
       ;;
     v) VERBOSE=1 ;;
     f) PHP_OPTS="$PHP_OPTS -f";;
     p) PHP_BIN=$OPTARG ;;
     d) SUBFOLDER=$OPTARG ;;
+    t)
+      if [[ $OPTARG =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+        TIMEOUT=$OPTARG
+        PHP_OPTS="$PHP_OPTS -t $OPTARG"
+      else
+        echo "Option -t requires an integer" >&2
+        exit 1
+      fi
+    ;;
     :)
       echo "Option -$OPTARG requires an argument." >&2
       exit 1
@@ -102,6 +110,16 @@ fi
 # Our PID of this shell
 PID=$$
 
+# If $PIDFILE exists and older than the time specified by -t, remove it.
+if [[ -e $PIDFILE ]]; then
+  if [[ -n $TIMEOUT ]] && \
+     [[ $(( $(date +%s) - $(stat -c %Y $PIDFILE) )) -gt $TIMEOUT ]]; then
+    echo "$PIDFILE exists but older than the time you specified in -t option ($TIMEOUT sec)."
+    echo "Removing PID file."
+    rm $PIDFILE
+  fi
+fi
+
 if [[ -e $PIDFILE ]]; then
   echo "Cron seems to be running already"
   RUNPID=$( cat $PIDFILE )
diff --git a/cronjobs/run-statistics.sh b/cronjobs/run-statistics.sh
index 9aa29737..edcba37f 100755
--- a/cronjobs/run-statistics.sh
+++ b/cronjobs/run-statistics.sh
@@ -47,16 +47,25 @@ fi
 ME=$( basename $0 )
 
 # Overwrite some settings via command line arguments
-while getopts "hfvp:d:" opt; do
+while getopts "hfvt:p:d:" opt; do
   case "$opt" in
     h|\?)
-      echo "Usage: $0 [-v] [-p PHP_BINARY] [-d SUBFOLDER]";
+      echo "Usage: $0 [-v] [-f] [-t TIME_IN_SEC] [-p PHP_BINARY] [-d SUBFOLDER]";
       exit 0
       ;;
     v) VERBOSE=1 ;;
     f) PHP_OPTS="$PHP_OPTS -f";;
     p) PHP_BIN=$OPTARG ;;
     d) SUBFOLDER=$OPTARG ;;
+    t)
+      if [[ $OPTARG =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+        TIMEOUT=$OPTARG
+        PHP_OPTS="$PHP_OPTS -t $OPTARG"
+      else
+        echo "Option -t requires an integer" >&2
+        exit 1
+      fi
+    ;;
     :)
       echo "Option -$OPTARG requires an argument." >&2
       exit 1
@@ -102,6 +111,16 @@ fi
 # Our PID of this shell
 PID=$$
 
+# If $PIDFILE exists and older than the time specified by -t, remove it.
+if [[ -e $PIDFILE ]]; then
+  if [[ -n $TIMEOUT ]] && \
+     [[ $(( $(date +%s) - $(stat -c %Y $PIDFILE) )) -gt $TIMEOUT ]]; then
+    echo "$PIDFILE exists but older than the time you specified in -t option ($TIMEOUT sec)."
+    echo "Removing PID file."
+    rm $PIDFILE
+  fi
+fi
+
 if [[ -e $PIDFILE ]]; then
   echo "Cron seems to be running already"
   RUNPID=$( cat $PIDFILE )
diff --git a/cronjobs/shared.inc.php b/cronjobs/shared.inc.php
index b16e0c3e..ce14408a 100644
--- a/cronjobs/shared.inc.php
+++ b/cronjobs/shared.inc.php
@@ -51,19 +51,39 @@ $cron_name = basename($_SERVER['PHP_SELF'], '.php');
 require_once(BASEPATH . '../include/bootstrap.php');
 require_once(BASEPATH . '../include/version.inc.php');
 
+// Load 3rd party logging library for running crons
+$log = KLogger::instance( BASEPATH . '../logs/' . $cron_name, KLogger::INFO );
+
 // Command line switches
 array_shift($argv);
-foreach ($argv as $option) {
+foreach ($argv as $index => $option) {
   switch ($option) {
   case '-f':
     $monitoring->setStatus($cron_name . "_disabled", "yesno", 0);
     $monitoring->setStatus($cron_name . "_active", "yesno", 0);
     break;
+  case '-t':
+    // When `-t TIME_IN_SEC` is specified, we ignore the cron active flag
+    // if the time elapsed `TIME_IN_SEC` seconds after the last job started.
+
+    // Check the next argument is the value for -t option.
+    if (!($index + 1 < count($argv)) || // check if '-t' is not the last argument.
+        !(ctype_digit($argv[$index + 1]))) { // check the next argument is numeric string
+      $log->logFatal('Option -t requires an integer.');
+      $monitoring->endCronjob($cron_name, 'E0085', 3, true, false);
+    }
+
+    $timeout = intval($argv[$index + 1]);
+    $timeElapsedFromLastStart = $dStartTime - $monitoring->getLastCronStarted($cron_name);
+
+    if ($timeElapsedFromLastStart > $timeout) {
+      $log->logWarn("Previous cronjob `$cron_name` is started before than you specified by -t. Re-run forced.");
+      $monitoring->setStatus($cron_name . "_active", "yesno", 0);
+    }
+    break;
   }
 }
 
-// Load 3rd party logging library for running crons
-$log = KLogger::instance( BASEPATH . '../logs/' . $cron_name, KLogger::INFO );
 $log->LogDebug('Starting ' . $cron_name);
 
 // Load the start time for later runtime calculations for monitoring
diff --git a/include/classes/monitoring.class.php b/include/classes/monitoring.class.php
index 7dd04df6..b5caae02 100644
--- a/include/classes/monitoring.class.php
+++ b/include/classes/monitoring.class.php
@@ -60,6 +60,16 @@ class Monitoring extends Base {
     return $aStatus['value'];
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Get the timestamp that last time a cronjob started
+   * @param name string Cronjob name
+   * @return int unix timestamp of last time the cronjob started
+   **/
+  public function getLastCronStarted($name) {
+    $aStatus = $this->getStatus($name . '_starttime');
+    return $aStatus['value'];
+  }
+
   /**
    * Fetch a value from our table
    * @param name string Setting name
diff --git a/include/config/error_codes.inc.php b/include/config/error_codes.inc.php
index a4b33471..f01f5588 100644
--- a/include/config/error_codes.inc.php
+++ b/include/config/error_codes.inc.php
@@ -80,3 +80,4 @@ $aErrorCodes['E0081'] = 'Failed to insert new block into database';
 $aErrorCodes['E0082'] = 'Block does not supply any usable confirmation information';
 $aErrorCodes['E0083'] = 'Maintenance mode enabled, skipped';
 $aErrorCodes['E0084'] = 'Error updating %s table';
+$aErrorCodes['E0085'] = 'Cron disabled due to invalid arguments';