diff --git a/server/src/__tests__/company-portability-import-batching.test.ts b/server/src/__tests__/company-portability-import-batching.test.ts
index 4c32bfe5cd..53ed945bc1 100644
--- a/server/src/__tests__/company-portability-import-batching.test.ts
+++ b/server/src/__tests__/company-portability-import-batching.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import { afterAll, beforeAll, beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import {
+  agents,
   assets,
+  companies,
   createDb,
   documentRevisions,
   documents,
@@ -371,6 +373,56 @@ describeEmbeddedPostgres("company import batches inserts", () => {
     expect(mineAfterCreate.filter((issue) => importedIds.has(issue.id))).toEqual([]);
   });
 
+  it("imports in_progress issues with a null startedAt", async () => {
+    const companyId = randomUUID();
+    const agentId = randomUUID();
+    await db.insert(companies).values({
+      id: companyId,
+      name: "Carried Over Co",
+      issuePrefix: "CAR",
+      requireBoardApprovalForNewAgents: false,
+    });
+    // pauseAutomations imports assignees paused; paused agents keep assignments.
+    await db.insert(agents).values({
+      id: agentId,
+      companyId,
+      name: "Carried Coder",
+      role: "engineer",
+      status: "paused",
+      adapterType: "codex_local",
+      adapterConfig: {},
+      runtimeConfig: {},
+      permissions: {},
+    });
+
+    await issueService(db).importIssues(companyId, [{
+      id: randomUUID(),
+      ref: "carried-over",
+      projectId: null,
+      projectWorkspaceId: null,
+      title: "Carried-over work",
+      description: null,
+      assigneeAgentId: agentId,
+      status: "in_progress",
+      priority: "medium",
+      billingCode: null,
+      assigneeAdapterOverrides: null,
+      executionWorkspaceSettings: null,
+      labelIds: [],
+      monitorNotes: null,
+      monitorScheduledBy: null,
+    }]);
+
+    const [imported] = await db
+      .select({ status: issues.status, startedAt: issues.startedAt })
+      .from(issues)
+      .where(eq(issues.companyId, companyId));
+    expect(imported?.status).toBe("in_progress");
+    // A fabricated import-time startedAt made carried-over work look hours
+    // stale to duration-based sweeps (e.g. the productivity review).
+    expect(imported?.startedAt).toBeNull();
+  });
+
   it("rolls back the whole work-product batch when a later chunk fails", async () => {
     // Seed a real company + issue to hang work products off of.
     const bundle = buildSyntheticBundle({ issueCount: 1, commentsPerIssue: 0, documentsPerIssue: 0 });
diff --git a/server/src/__tests__/productivity-review-service.test.ts b/server/src/__tests__/productivity-review-service.test.ts
index 12b3bdd18c..a45e4502ed 100644
--- a/server/src/__tests__/productivity-review-service.test.ts
+++ b/server/src/__tests__/productivity-review-service.test.ts
@@ -505,6 +505,28 @@ describeEmbeddedPostgres("productivity review service", () => {
     expect(hold.held).toBe(false);
   });
 
+  it("skips a long-active candidate while its assignee is paused and reviews it once unpaused", async () => {
+    const now = new Date("2026-04-28T12:00:00.000Z");
+    const seeded = await seedAssignedIssue({
+      status: "in_progress",
+      startedAt: new Date(now.getTime() - 7 * 60 * 60 * 1000),
+    });
+    await db.update(agents).set({ status: "paused" }).where(eq(agents.id, seeded.coderId));
+    const service = productivityReviewService(db);
+
+    const pausedResult = await service.reconcileProductivityReviews({ now, companyId: seeded.companyId });
+
+    expect(pausedResult.created).toBe(0);
+    expect(pausedResult.skipped).toBe(1);
+    expect(await listProductivityReviews(seeded.companyId)).toHaveLength(0);
+
+    await db.update(agents).set({ status: "idle" }).where(eq(agents.id, seeded.coderId));
+    const unpausedResult = await service.reconcileProductivityReviews({ now, companyId: seeded.companyId });
+
+    expect(unpausedResult.created).toBe(1);
+    expect(await listProductivityReviews(seeded.companyId)).toHaveLength(1);
+  });
+
   it("creates a high-churn review even when every sampled run has a progress comment", async () => {
     const now = new Date("2026-04-28T12:00:00.000Z");
     const seeded = await seedAssignedIssue();
diff --git a/server/src/services/issues.ts b/server/src/services/issues.ts
index 347168911b..16dbd66207 100644
--- a/server/src/services/issues.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/issues.ts
@@ -7352,7 +7352,9 @@ export function issueService(db: Db) {
             responsibleUserId: null,
             requestDepth: clampIssueRequestDepth(undefined),
             originKind: "manual",
-            startedAt: row.status === "in_progress" ? new Date() : null,
+            // Imported in-progress work did not start at import time; fabricating
+            // startedAt here trips duration-based sweeps (e.g. productivity review).
+            startedAt: null,
             completedAt: row.status === "done" ? new Date() : null,
             cancelledAt: row.status === "cancelled" ? new Date() : null,
             monitorNotes: row.monitorNotes ?? null,
diff --git a/server/src/services/productivity-review.ts b/server/src/services/productivity-review.ts
index 199b122421..909682d675 100644
--- a/server/src/services/productivity-review.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/productivity-review.ts
@@ -896,6 +896,11 @@ export function productivityReviewService(db: Db, deps?: { enqueueWakeup?: Enque
         result.skipped += 1;
         continue;
       }
+      // A paused assignee cannot act on a review, so raising one only creates noise.
+      if (sourceAgent.status === "paused") {
+        result.skipped += 1;
+        continue;
+      }
       const evidence = await collectEvidence(candidate, sourceAgent, thresholds, now);
       if (!evidence) {
         result.skipped += 1;