diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/config/config.go b/pkg/kubelet/config/config.go
index f82ba39fa48..7466333eeed 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/config/config.go
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/client/record"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet"
 	kubecontainer "github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/container"
+	kubeletTypes "github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/types"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/util"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/util/config"
 	utilerrors "github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/util/errors"
@@ -183,6 +184,11 @@ func (s *podStorage) Merge(source string, change interface{}) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// recordFirstSeenTime records the first seen time of this pod.
+func recordFirstSeenTime(pod *api.Pod) {
+	pod.Annotations[kubelet.ConfigFirstSeenAnnotationKey] = kubeletTypes.NewTimestamp().GetString()
+}
+
 func (s *podStorage) merge(source string, change interface{}) (adds, updates, deletes *kubelet.PodUpdate) {
 	s.podLock.Lock()
 	defer s.podLock.Unlock()
@@ -223,6 +229,7 @@ func (s *podStorage) merge(source string, change interface{}) (adds, updates, de
 				ref.Annotations = make(map[string]string)
 			}
 			ref.Annotations[kubelet.ConfigSourceAnnotationKey] = source
+			recordFirstSeenTime(ref)
 			pods[name] = ref
 			adds.Pods = append(adds.Pods, ref)
 		}
@@ -265,6 +272,7 @@ func (s *podStorage) merge(source string, change interface{}) (adds, updates, de
 				ref.Annotations = make(map[string]string)
 			}
 			ref.Annotations[kubelet.ConfigSourceAnnotationKey] = source
+			recordFirstSeenTime(ref)
 			pods[name] = ref
 			adds.Pods = append(adds.Pods, ref)
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/config/config_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/config/config_test.go
index 9fe1fb860f9..d397bcd374d 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/config/config_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/config/config_test.go
@@ -91,6 +91,14 @@ func expectPodUpdate(t *testing.T, ch <-chan kubelet.PodUpdate, expected ...kube
 	for i := range expected {
 		update := <-ch
 		sort.Sort(sortedPods(update.Pods))
+		// Clear the annotation field before the comparision.
+		// TODO: consider mock out recordFirstSeen in config.go
+		for _, pod := range update.Pods {
+			delete(pod.Annotations, kubelet.ConfigFirstSeenAnnotationKey)
+		}
+		for _, pod := range expected[i].Pods {
+			delete(pod.Annotations, kubelet.ConfigFirstSeenAnnotationKey)
+		}
 		if !api.Semantic.DeepEqual(expected[i], update) {
 			t.Fatalf("Expected %#v, Got %#v", expected[i], update)
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
index bb39740833d..a2ed8ffc273 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -1098,6 +1098,12 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) syncPod(pod *api.Pod, mirrorPod *api.Pod, runningPod kubecont
 	podFullName := kubecontainer.GetPodFullName(pod)
 	uid := pod.UID
 	start := time.Now()
+	var firstSeenTime time.Time
+	if firstSeenTimeStr, ok := pod.Annotations[ConfigFirstSeenAnnotationKey]; !ok {
+		glog.V(3).Infof("First seen time not recorded for pod %q", pod.UID)
+	} else {
+		firstSeenTime = kubeletTypes.ConvertToTimestamp(firstSeenTimeStr).Get()
+	}
 
 	// Before returning, regenerate status and store it in the cache.
 	defer func() {
@@ -1115,9 +1121,9 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) syncPod(pod *api.Pod, mirrorPod *api.Pod, runningPod kubecont
 				podToUpdate = mirrorPod
 			}
 			existingStatus, ok := kl.statusManager.GetPodStatus(podFullName)
-			if !ok || existingStatus.Phase == api.PodPending && status.Phase == api.PodRunning {
-				// TODO: Check the pod annotation instead of using `start`
-				metrics.PodStartLatency.Observe(metrics.SinceInMicroseconds(start))
+			if !ok || existingStatus.Phase == api.PodPending && status.Phase == api.PodRunning &&
+				!firstSeenTime.IsZero() {
+				metrics.PodStartLatency.Observe(metrics.SinceInMicroseconds(firstSeenTime))
 			}
 			kl.statusManager.SetPodStatus(podToUpdate, status)
 		}
@@ -1175,6 +1181,12 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) syncPod(pod *api.Pod, mirrorPod *api.Pod, runningPod kubecont
 
 	var podStatus api.PodStatus
 	if updateType == SyncPodCreate {
+		// This is the first time we are syncing the pod. Record the latency
+		// since kubelet first saw the pod if firstSeenTime is set.
+		if !firstSeenTime.IsZero() {
+			metrics.PodWorkerStartLatency.Observe(metrics.SinceInMicroseconds(firstSeenTime))
+		}
+
 		podStatus = pod.Status
 		podStatus.StartTime = &util.Time{start}
 		kl.statusManager.SetPodStatus(pod, podStatus)
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/metrics/metrics.go b/pkg/kubelet/metrics/metrics.go
index 06eb2330998..d703ddd46b9 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/metrics/metrics.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/metrics/metrics.go
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ const (
 	ContainerManagerOperationsKey = "container_manager_latency_microseconds"
 	DockerOperationsKey           = "docker_operations_latency_microseconds"
 	DockerErrorsKey               = "docker_errors"
+	PodWorkerStartLatencyKey      = "pod_worker_start_latency_microseconds"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -81,6 +82,13 @@ var (
 		},
 		[]string{"operation_type"},
 	)
+	PodWorkerStartLatency = prometheus.NewSummary(
+		prometheus.SummaryOpts{
+			Subsystem: KubeletSubsystem,
+			Name:      PodWorkerStartLatencyKey,
+			Help:      "Latency in microseconds from seeing a pod to starting a worker.",
+		},
+	)
 	DockerOperationsLatency = prometheus.NewSummaryVec(
 		prometheus.SummaryOpts{
 			Subsystem: KubeletSubsystem,
@@ -111,6 +119,7 @@ func Register(containerCache kubecontainer.RuntimeCache) {
 		prometheus.MustRegister(DockerOperationsLatency)
 		prometheus.MustRegister(ContainerManagerLatency)
 		prometheus.MustRegister(SyncPodsLatency)
+		prometheus.MustRegister(PodWorkerStartLatency)
 		prometheus.MustRegister(ContainersPerPodCount)
 		prometheus.MustRegister(DockerErrors)
 		prometheus.MustRegister(newPodAndContainerCollector(containerCache))
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/types.go b/pkg/kubelet/types.go
index 1f28c5c2ff2..c4a7c50b39d 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/types.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/types.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 
 const ConfigSourceAnnotationKey = "kubernetes.io/config.source"
 const ConfigMirrorAnnotationKey = "kubernetes.io/config.mirror"
+const ConfigFirstSeenAnnotationKey = "kubernetes.io/config.seen"
 
 // PodOperation defines what changes will be made on a pod configuration.
 type PodOperation int
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/types/types.go b/pkg/kubelet/types/types.go
index e4bd4c15cf0..172c84ae1ab 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/types/types.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/types/types.go
@@ -16,7 +16,10 @@ limitations under the License.
 
 package types
 
-import "net/http"
+import (
+	"net/http"
+	"time"
+)
 
 // DockerID is an ID of docker container. It is a type to make it clear when we're working with docker container Ids
 type DockerID string
@@ -24,3 +27,32 @@ type DockerID string
 type HttpGetter interface {
 	Get(url string) (*http.Response, error)
 }
+
+// Timestamp wraps around time.Time and offers utilities to format and parse
+// the time using RFC3339Nano
+type Timestamp struct {
+	time time.Time
+}
+
+// NewTimestamp returns a Timestamp object using the current time.
+func NewTimestamp() *Timestamp {
+	return &Timestamp{time.Now()}
+}
+
+// ConvertToTimestamp takes a string, parses it using the RFC3339Nano layout,
+// and converts it to a Timestamp object.
+func ConvertToTimestamp(timeString string) *Timestamp {
+	parsed, _ := time.Parse(time.RFC3339Nano, timeString)
+	return &Timestamp{parsed}
+}
+
+// Get returns the time as time.Time.
+func (t *Timestamp) Get() time.Time {
+	return t.time
+}
+
+// GetString returns the time in the string format using the RFC3339Nano
+// layout.
+func (t *Timestamp) GetString() string {
+	return t.time.Format(time.RFC3339Nano)
+}