diff --git a/core/common/src/main/kotlin/app/muxtv/common/diagnostics/BackgroundWorkFailure.kt b/core/common/src/main/kotlin/app/muxtv/common/diagnostics/BackgroundWorkFailure.kt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fdbb192c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/common/src/main/kotlin/app/muxtv/common/diagnostics/BackgroundWorkFailure.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+package app.muxtv.common.diagnostics
+
+internal enum class BackgroundWorkFailureKind {
+    INITIALIZATION,
+    SCHEDULING,
+    WORKER_INITIALIZATION,
+    WORKER_EXECUTION,
+}
+
+internal enum class BackgroundWorkerCategory {
+    SOURCE_REFRESH,
+    EPG_REFRESH,
+    UNKNOWN,
+}
+
+internal data class BackgroundWorkFailureObservation(
+    val kind: BackgroundWorkFailureKind,
+    val timestampEpochMillis: Long,
+    val workerCategory: BackgroundWorkerCategory,
+) {
+    init {
+        require(timestampEpochMillis >= 0L) { "Timestamp must be non-negative" }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/core/common/src/test/kotlin/app/muxtv/common/diagnostics/BackgroundWorkFailureTest.kt b/core/common/src/test/kotlin/app/muxtv/common/diagnostics/BackgroundWorkFailureTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..22f3955db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/common/src/test/kotlin/app/muxtv/common/diagnostics/BackgroundWorkFailureTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+package app.muxtv.common.diagnostics
+
+import com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat
+import org.junit.Test
+
+class BackgroundWorkFailureTest {
+    @Test
+    fun `failure kinds match stable WorkManager callbacks`() {
+        assertThat(BackgroundWorkFailureKind.entries)
+            .containsExactly(
+                BackgroundWorkFailureKind.INITIALIZATION,
+                BackgroundWorkFailureKind.SCHEDULING,
+                BackgroundWorkFailureKind.WORKER_INITIALIZATION,
+                BackgroundWorkFailureKind.WORKER_EXECUTION,
+            )
+            .inOrder()
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `worker category is a closed secret-safe vocabulary`() {
+        assertThat(BackgroundWorkerCategory.entries)
+            .containsExactly(
+                BackgroundWorkerCategory.SOURCE_REFRESH,
+                BackgroundWorkerCategory.EPG_REFRESH,
+                BackgroundWorkerCategory.UNKNOWN,
+            )
+            .inOrder()
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `observation exposes no arbitrary string or throwable payload`() {
+        val fieldTypes = BackgroundWorkFailureObservation::class.java.declaredFields.map { it.type }
+
+        assertThat(fieldTypes).doesNotContain(String::class.java)
+        assertThat(fieldTypes).doesNotContain(Throwable::class.java)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `observation equality is deterministic`() {
+        val first =
+            BackgroundWorkFailureObservation(
+                kind = BackgroundWorkFailureKind.WORKER_EXECUTION,
+                timestampEpochMillis = 1234L,
+                workerCategory = BackgroundWorkerCategory.SOURCE_REFRESH,
+            )
+        val second = first.copy()
+
+        assertThat(second).isEqualTo(first)
+        assertThat(second.hashCode()).isEqualTo(first.hashCode())
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `observation rejects negative wall clock timestamp`() {
+        var thrown: Throwable? = null
+
+        try {
+            BackgroundWorkFailureObservation(
+                kind = BackgroundWorkFailureKind.INITIALIZATION,
+                timestampEpochMillis = -1L,
+                workerCategory = BackgroundWorkerCategory.UNKNOWN,
+            )
+        } catch (failure: Throwable) {
+            thrown = failure
+        }
+
+        assertThat(thrown).isInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException::class.java)
+    }
+}