diff --git a/engine/src/test/scala/cromwell/webservice/MetadataBuilderActorSpec.scala b/engine/src/test/scala/cromwell/webservice/MetadataBuilderActorSpec.scala
index ac7966f1da7..a520faee1f2 100644
--- a/engine/src/test/scala/cromwell/webservice/MetadataBuilderActorSpec.scala
+++ b/engine/src/test/scala/cromwell/webservice/MetadataBuilderActorSpec.scala
@@ -227,6 +227,36 @@ class MetadataBuilderActorSpec extends TestKitSuite with AsyncFlatSpecLike with
     )
   }
 
+
+  it should "use reverse date ordering (oldest first) for event start and stop values" in {
+    val eventBuilderList = List(
+      ("start", "1990-12-20T12:30:00.000Z", OffsetDateTime.now),
+      ("start", "1990-12-20T12:30:01.000Z", OffsetDateTime.now.plusSeconds(1)),
+      ("end", "2018-06-02T12:30:00.000Z", OffsetDateTime.now.plusSeconds(2)),
+      ("end", "2018-06-02T12:30:01.000Z", OffsetDateTime.now.plusSeconds(3)),
+    )
+    val workflowId = WorkflowId.randomId()
+    val expectedRes =
+      s""""calls": {
+         |    "fqn": [{
+         |      "attempt": 1,
+         |      "end": "2018-06-02T12:30:00.000Z",
+         |      "start": "1990-12-20T12:30:00.000Z",
+         |      "shardIndex": -1
+         |    }]
+         |  },
+         |  "id": "$workflowId"""".stripMargin
+
+    assertMetadataKeyStructure(
+      eventList = eventBuilderList,
+      expectedJson = expectedRes,
+      workflow = workflowId,
+      eventMaker = makeCallEvent,
+      metadataBuilderActorName = "mba-start-end-values",
+    )
+  }
+
+
   it should "build JSON object structure from dotted key syntax" in {
     val eventBuilderList = List(
       ("a:b:c", "abc", OffsetDateTime.now),
diff --git a/services/src/main/scala/cromwell/services/metadata/impl/builder/MetadataComponent.scala b/services/src/main/scala/cromwell/services/metadata/impl/builder/MetadataComponent.scala
index 8f2697fe26a..428feafe1a1 100644
--- a/services/src/main/scala/cromwell/services/metadata/impl/builder/MetadataComponent.scala
+++ b/services/src/main/scala/cromwell/services/metadata/impl/builder/MetadataComponent.scala
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import spray.json._
 import scala.collection.immutable.TreeMap
 import scala.language.postfixOps
 import scala.util.{Random, Try}
+import java.time.Instant
 
 object MetadataComponent {
   implicit val MetadataComponentMonoid: Monoid[MetadataComponent] = new Monoid[MetadataComponent] {
@@ -88,8 +89,12 @@ object MetadataComponent {
   }
 
   private def customOrdering(event: MetadataEvent): Option[Ordering[MetadataPrimitive]] = event match {
-    case MetadataEvent(MetadataKey(_, Some(_), key), _, _) if key == CallMetadataKeys.ExecutionStatus => Option(MetadataPrimitive.ExecutionStatusOrdering)
-    case MetadataEvent(MetadataKey(_, None, key), _, _) if key == WorkflowMetadataKeys.Status => Option(MetadataPrimitive.WorkflowStateOrdering)
+    case MetadataEvent(MetadataKey(_, Some(_), key), _, _)
+      if key == CallMetadataKeys.ExecutionStatus => Option(MetadataPrimitive.ExecutionStatusOrdering)
+    case MetadataEvent(MetadataKey(_, _, key), _, _)
+      if key == CallMetadataKeys.Start || key == CallMetadataKeys.End => Option(MetadataPrimitive.TimestampOrdering)
+    case MetadataEvent(MetadataKey(_, None, key), _, _)
+      if key == WorkflowMetadataKeys.Status => Option(MetadataPrimitive.WorkflowStateOrdering)
     case _ => None
   }
 
@@ -151,6 +156,10 @@ object MetadataPrimitive {
   val WorkflowStateOrdering: Ordering[MetadataPrimitive] = Ordering.by { primitive: MetadataPrimitive =>
     WorkflowState.withName(primitive.v.value)
   }
+
+  val TimestampOrdering: Ordering[MetadataPrimitive] = Ordering.by { primitive: MetadataPrimitive =>
+    Instant.parse(primitive.v.value)
+  }.reverse
 }
 case class MetadataPrimitive(v: MetadataValue, customOrdering: Option[Ordering[MetadataPrimitive]] = None) extends MetadataComponent