diff --git a/pkg/controller/jobs/pod/pod_controller.go b/pkg/controller/jobs/pod/pod_controller.go
index 67e6231470..33f9774e68 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/jobs/pod/pod_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/jobs/pod/pod_controller.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/validation"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/tools/record"
 	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
+	"k8s.io/utils/clock"
 	"k8s.io/utils/ptr"
 	ctrl "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client"
@@ -90,6 +91,7 @@ var (
 	errIncorrectReconcileRequest = errors.New("event handler error: got a single pod reconcile request for a pod group")
 	errPendingOps                = jobframework.UnretryableError("waiting to observe previous operations on pods")
 	errPodGroupLabelsMismatch    = errors.New("constructing workload: pods have different label values")
+	realClock                    = clock.RealClock{}
 )
 
 func init() {
@@ -118,7 +120,7 @@ type Reconciler struct {
 }
 
 func (r *Reconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.Request) (ctrl.Result, error) {
-	return r.ReconcileGenericJob(ctx, req, &Pod{excessPodExpectations: r.expectationsStore})
+	return r.ReconcileGenericJob(ctx, req, &Pod{excessPodExpectations: r.expectationsStore, clock: realClock})
 }
 
 func (r *Reconciler) SetupWithManager(mgr ctrl.Manager) error {
@@ -155,6 +157,7 @@ type Pod struct {
 	absentPods            int
 	excessPodExpectations *expectations.Store
 	satisfiedExcessPods   bool
+	clock                 clock.Clock
 }
 
 var (
@@ -206,6 +209,13 @@ func (p *Pod) isUnretriableGroup() bool {
 	return false
 }
 
+func (p *Pod) getClock() clock.Clock {
+	if p.clock != nil {
+		return p.clock
+	}
+	return realClock
+}
+
 // IsSuspended returns whether the job is suspended or not.
 func (p *Pod) IsSuspended() bool {
 	if !p.isGroup {
@@ -445,7 +455,7 @@ func (p *Pod) Stop(ctx context.Context, c client.Client, _ []podset.PodSetInfo,
 						Type:   ConditionTypeTerminationTarget,
 						Status: corev1.ConditionTrue,
 						LastTransitionTime: metav1.Time{
-							Time: time.Now(),
+							Time: p.getClock().Now(),
 						},
 						Reason:  string(stopReason),
 						Message: eventMsg,
@@ -771,28 +781,27 @@ func isPodRunnableOrSucceeded(p *corev1.Pod) bool {
 // lastActiveTime returns the last timestamp on which the pod was observed active:
 // - the time the pod was declared Failed
 // - the deletion time
-func lastActiveTime(p *corev1.Pod) time.Time {
-	lastTransition := metav1.Now()
+func lastActiveTime(clock clock.Clock, p *corev1.Pod) time.Time {
+	if !p.DeletionTimestamp.IsZero() {
+		return p.DeletionTimestamp.Time
+	}
+	lastTransition := clock.Now()
 	for _, c := range p.Status.Conditions {
 		if c.Type == corev1.ContainersReady {
 			if c.Status == corev1.ConditionFalse && c.Reason == string(corev1.PodFailed) {
-				lastTransition = c.LastTransitionTime
+				lastTransition = c.LastTransitionTime.Time
 			}
 			break
 		}
 	}
-	deletionTime := ptr.Deref(p.DeletionTimestamp, metav1.Now())
-	if lastTransition.Before(&deletionTime) {
-		return lastTransition.Time
-	}
-	return deletionTime.Time
+	return lastTransition
 }
 
 // sortInactivePods sorts the provided pods slice based on:
 // - finalizer state (pods with finalizers are first)
 // - lastActiveTime (pods that were active last are first)
 // - creation timestamp (newer pods are first)
-func sortInactivePods(inactivePods []corev1.Pod) {
+func sortInactivePods(clock clock.Clock, inactivePods []corev1.Pod) {
 	sort.Slice(inactivePods, func(i, j int) bool {
 		pi := &inactivePods[i]
 		pj := &inactivePods[j]
@@ -802,8 +811,8 @@ func sortInactivePods(inactivePods []corev1.Pod) {
 			return iFin
 		}
 
-		iLastActive := lastActiveTime(pi)
-		jLastActive := lastActiveTime(pj)
+		iLastActive := lastActiveTime(clock, pi)
+		jLastActive := lastActiveTime(clock, pj)
 
 		if iLastActive.Equal(jLastActive) {
 			return pi.CreationTimestamp.Before(&pj.CreationTimestamp)
@@ -1150,7 +1159,7 @@ func (p *Pod) FindMatchingWorkloads(ctx context.Context, c client.Client, r reco
 		}
 
 		if finalizeablePodsCount := min(len(roleInactivePods), len(roleInactivePods)+len(roleActivePods)-int(ps.Count)); finalizeablePodsCount > 0 {
-			sortInactivePods(roleInactivePods)
+			sortInactivePods(p.getClock(), roleInactivePods)
 			replacedInactivePods = append(replacedInactivePods, roleInactivePods[len(roleInactivePods)-finalizeablePodsCount:]...)
 			keptPods = append(keptPods, roleInactivePods[:len(roleInactivePods)-finalizeablePodsCount]...)
 		} else {
@@ -1325,7 +1334,7 @@ func (p *Pod) waitingForReplacementPodsCondition(wl *kueue.Workload) (*metav1.Co
 
 	if updated {
 		replCond.ObservedGeneration = wl.Generation
-		replCond.LastTransitionTime = metav1.Now()
+		replCond.LastTransitionTime = metav1.NewTime(p.getClock().Now())
 	}
 
 	return replCond, updated
diff --git a/pkg/controller/jobs/pod/pod_controller_test.go b/pkg/controller/jobs/pod/pod_controller_test.go
index e1dfc8f94d..8d98bf9979 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/jobs/pod/pod_controller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/jobs/pod/pod_controller_test.go
@@ -5388,6 +5388,7 @@ func TestGetWorkloadNameForPod(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestReconciler_DeletePodAfterTransientErrorsOnUpdateOrDeleteOps(t *testing.T) {
 	now := time.Now()
+	fakeClock := testingclock.NewFakeClock(now)
 	connRefusedErrMock := fmt.Errorf("connection refused: %w", syscall.ECONNREFUSED)
 	ctx, _ := utiltesting.ContextWithLog(t)
 	var triggerUpdateErr, triggerDeleteErr bool
@@ -5475,7 +5476,7 @@ func TestReconciler_DeletePodAfterTransientErrorsOnUpdateOrDeleteOps(t *testing.
 	}
 
 	recorder := record.NewBroadcaster().NewRecorder(kClient.Scheme(), corev1.EventSource{Component: "test"})
-	reconciler := NewReconciler(kClient, recorder)
+	reconciler := NewReconciler(kClient, recorder, jobframework.WithClock(t, fakeClock))
 	reconcileRequest := reconcileRequestForPod(&pods[0])
 
 	// Reconcile for the first time. It'll try  to remove the finalizers but fail