diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/index.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/index.ts
index ffffd8240a..c7cf9f56cc 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/index.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ export * as timers from "./timers"
 export { default as env } from "./environment"
 export * as blacklist from "./blacklist"
 export * as docUpdates from "./docUpdates"
+export * from "./utils/Duration"
 export { SearchParams } from "./db"
 // Add context to tenancy for backwards compatibility
 // only do this for external usages to prevent internal
diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/queue/queue.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/queue/queue.ts
index c6b02921bf..c0d1861de3 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/queue/queue.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/queue/queue.ts
@@ -4,15 +4,16 @@ import { JobQueue } from "./constants"
 import InMemoryQueue from "./inMemoryQueue"
 import BullQueue, { QueueOptions } from "bull"
 import { addListeners, StalledFn } from "./listeners"
+import { Duration } from "../utils"
 import * as timers from "../timers"
 import * as Redis from "ioredis"
 
 // the queue lock is held for 5 minutes
-const QUEUE_LOCK_MS = 300000
+const QUEUE_LOCK_MS = Duration.fromMinutes(5).toMs()
 // queue lock is refreshed every 30 seconds
-const QUEUE_LOCK_RENEW_INTERNAL_MS = 30000
+const QUEUE_LOCK_RENEW_INTERNAL_MS = Duration.fromSeconds(30).toMs()
 // cleanup the queue every 60 seconds
-const CLEANUP_PERIOD_MS = 60 * 1000
+const CLEANUP_PERIOD_MS = Duration.fromSeconds(60).toMs()
 let QUEUES: BullQueue.Queue[] | InMemoryQueue[] = []
 let cleanupInterval: NodeJS.Timeout
 
diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/utils/Duration.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/utils/Duration.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f376c2f7c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/utils/Duration.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+export enum DurationType {
+  MILLISECONDS = "milliseconds",
+  SECONDS = "seconds",
+  MINUTES = "minutes",
+  HOURS = "hours",
+  DAYS = "days",
+}
+
+const conversion: Record<DurationType, number> = {
+  milliseconds: 1,
+  seconds: 1000,
+  minutes: 60 * 1000,
+  hours: 60 * 60 * 1000,
+  days: 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000,
+}
+
+export class Duration {
+  static convert(from: DurationType, to: DurationType, duration: number) {
+    const milliseconds = duration * conversion[from]
+    return milliseconds / conversion[to]
+  }
+
+  static from(from: DurationType, duration: number) {
+    return {
+      to: (to: DurationType) => {
+        return Duration.convert(from, to, duration)
+      },
+      toMs: () => {
+        return Duration.convert(from, DurationType.MILLISECONDS, duration)
+      },
+    }
+  }
+
+  static fromSeconds(duration: number) {
+    return Duration.from(DurationType.SECONDS, duration)
+  }
+
+  static fromMinutes(duration: number) {
+    return Duration.from(DurationType.MINUTES, duration)
+  }
+
+  static fromHours(duration: number) {
+    return Duration.from(DurationType.HOURS, duration)
+  }
+
+  static fromDays(duration: number) {
+    return Duration.from(DurationType.DAYS, duration)
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/utils/index.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/utils/index.ts
index 318a7f13ba..ac17227459 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/utils/index.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/utils/index.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 export * from "./hashing"
 export * from "./utils"
 export * from "./stringUtils"
+export * from "./Duration"
diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/utils/tests/Duration.spec.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/utils/tests/Duration.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..46b996f788
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/utils/tests/Duration.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import { Duration, DurationType } from "../Duration"
+
+describe("duration", () => {
+  it("should convert minutes to milliseconds", () => {
+    expect(Duration.fromMinutes(5).toMs()).toBe(300000)
+  })
+
+  it("should convert seconds to milliseconds", () => {
+    expect(Duration.fromSeconds(30).toMs()).toBe(30000)
+  })
+
+  it("should convert days to milliseconds", () => {
+    expect(Duration.fromDays(1).toMs()).toBe(86400000)
+  })
+
+  it("should convert minutes to days", () => {
+    expect(Duration.fromMinutes(1440).to(DurationType.DAYS)).toBe(1)
+  })
+})