diff --git a/Koha/BackgroundJob.pm b/Koha/BackgroundJob.pm
index aa4b33dd68..ff58ac6b4c 100644
--- a/Koha/BackgroundJob.pm
+++ b/Koha/BackgroundJob.pm
@@ -471,14 +471,17 @@ sub plugin_types_to_classes {
             my $namespace = $metadata->{namespace};
 
             foreach my $type ( keys %{$tasks} ) {
-                my $class = $tasks->{$type};
+                my $class =
+                    ( ref $tasks->{$type} eq 'HASH' )
+                    ? $tasks->{$type}{class}
+                    : $tasks->{$type};
 
                 # skip if conditions not met
                 next unless $type and $class;
 
                 my $key = "plugin_$namespace" . "_$type";
 
-                $self->{_plugin_mapping}->{$key} = $tasks->{$type};
+                $self->{_plugin_mapping}->{$key} = $class;
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/admin/background_jobs.pl b/admin/background_jobs.pl
index b193fdbf2a..80f93bc5ab 100755
--- a/admin/background_jobs.pl
+++ b/admin/background_jobs.pl
@@ -91,9 +91,12 @@ my @plugin_job_types;
 for my $plugin (@plugins) {
     my $tasks = $plugin->background_tasks;
     for my $id ( keys %$tasks ) {
+
+        # fallback to package name if no human-readable name is available
+        my $name = ( ref $tasks->{$id} eq 'HASH' ) ? $tasks->{$id}{name} : $tasks->{$id};
         push @plugin_job_types, {
             id  => 'plugin_' . $plugin->get_metadata->{namespace} . "_$id",
-            str => $tasks->{$id},
+            str => $name,
         };
     }
 }
diff --git a/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/admin/background_jobs.tt b/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/admin/background_jobs.tt
index e811b1139f..8ac60f6428 100644
--- a/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/admin/background_jobs.tt
+++ b/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/admin/background_jobs.tt
@@ -181,72 +181,72 @@
         const job_types = [
             {
                 '_id': 'batch_biblio_record_modification',
-                '_str': _("Batch bibliographic record modification")
+                '_str': _("Batch bibliographic record modification").escapeHtml()
             },
             {
                 '_id': 'batch_biblio_record_deletion',
-                '_str': _("Batch bibliographic record deletion")
+                '_str': _("Batch bibliographic record deletion").escapeHtml()
             },
             {
                 '_id': 'batch_authority_record_modification',
-                '_str': _("Batch authority record modification")
+                '_str': _("Batch authority record modification").escapeHtml()
             },
             {
                 '_id': 'batch_authority_record_deletion',
-                '_str': _("Batch authority record deletion")
+                '_str': _("Batch authority record deletion").escapeHtml()
             },
             {
                 '_id': 'batch_item_record_modification',
-                '_str': _("Batch item record modification")
+                '_str': _("Batch item record modification").escapeHtml()
             },
             {
                 '_id': 'batch_item_record_deletion',
-                '_str': _("Batch item record deletion")
+                '_str': _("Batch item record deletion").escapeHtml()
             },
             {
                 '_id': 'erm_sushi_harvester',
-                '_str': _("ERM Usage Statistics SUSHI Harvester")
+                '_str': _("ERM Usage Statistics SUSHI Harvester").escapeHtml()
             },
             {
                 '_id': 'batch_hold_cancel',
-                '_str': _("Batch hold cancellation")
+                '_str': _("Batch hold cancellation").escapeHtml()
             },
             {
                 '_id': 'pseudonymize_statistic',
-                '_str': _("Pseudonymize statistic")
+                '_str': _("Pseudonymize statistic").escapeHtml()
             },
             {
                 '_id': 'create_eholdings_from_biblios',
-                '_str': _("Create eHolding titles")
+                '_str': _("Create eHolding titles").escapeHtml()
             },
             {
                 '_id': 'update_elastic_index',
-                '_str': _("Update Elasticsearch index")
+                '_str': _("Update Elasticsearch index").escapeHtml()
             },
             {
                 '_id': 'update_holds_queue_for_biblios',
-                '_str': _("Holds queue update")
+                '_str': _("Holds queue update").escapeHtml()
             },
             {
                 '_id': 'stage_marc_for_import',
-                '_str': _("Staged MARC records for import")
+                '_str': _("Staged MARC records for import").escapeHtml()
             },
             {
                 '_id': 'marc_import_commit_batch',
-                '_str': _("Import MARC records")
+                '_str': _("Import MARC records").escapeHtml()
             },
             {
                 '_id': 'marc_import_revert_batch',
-                '_str': _("Revert import MARC records")
+                '_str': _("Revert import MARC records").escapeHtml()
             },
             {
                 '_id': 'import_from_kbart_file',
-                '_str': _("Import titles from a KBART file")
+                '_str': _("Import titles from a KBART file").escapeHtml()
             },
             [% FOR job_type IN plugin_job_types %]
             {
-                '_id': '[% job_type.id %]',
-                '_str': '[% job_type.str %]'
+                '_id': '[% job_type.id | html %]',
+                '_str': '[% job_type.str | html_entity %]'
             },
             [% END %]
         ];
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@
                         "searchable": true,
                         "orderable": true,
                         "render": function(data, type, row, meta) {
-                            return get_job_type(row.type).escapeHtml();
+                            return get_job_type(row.type);
                         }
                     },
                     {
diff --git a/t/lib/plugins/Koha/Plugin/Test.pm b/t/lib/plugins/Koha/Plugin/Test.pm
index 255fc90a12..aa4bba3953 100644
--- a/t/lib/plugins/Koha/Plugin/Test.pm
+++ b/t/lib/plugins/Koha/Plugin/Test.pm
@@ -365,7 +365,10 @@ sub intranet_catalog_biblio_tab {
 sub background_tasks {
     return {
         foo => 'MyPlugin::Class::Foo',
-        bar => 'MyPlugin::Class::Bar',
+        bar => {
+            class => 'MyPlugin::Class::Bar',
+            name  => "Bar task",
+        },
     };
 }