diff --git a/assets/translations/en-us.yaml b/assets/translations/en-us.yaml
index acdc3e7ccb2..4c26fb3adac 100644
--- a/assets/translations/en-us.yaml
+++ b/assets/translations/en-us.yaml
@@ -1306,6 +1306,7 @@ validation:
   flowOutput:
     both: Requires "Output" or "Cluster Output" to be selected.
     global: Requires "Cluster Output" to be selected.
+  invalidCron: Invalid cron schedule
   k8s:
     identifier:
       emptyLabel: '"{key}" cannot have an empty key'
diff --git a/models/workload.js b/models/workload.js
index ef3baaa52ca..657ef0e0f8e 100644
--- a/models/workload.js
+++ b/models/workload.js
@@ -26,6 +26,66 @@ export default {
     return out;
   },
 
+  customValidationRules() {
+    const out = [
+      {
+        nullable:       false,
+        path:           'metadata.name',
+        required:       true,
+        translationKey: 'generic.name',
+        type:           'dnsLabel',
+      },
+      {
+        nullable:       false,
+        path:           'spec',
+        required:       true,
+        type:           'object',
+        validators:     ['containerImages'],
+      }
+    ];
+
+    const type = this._type ? this._type : this.type;
+
+    switch (type) {
+    case WORKLOAD_TYPES.DEPLOYMENT:
+    case WORKLOAD_TYPES.REPLICA_SET:
+      out.push( {
+        nullable:       false,
+        path:           'spec.replicas',
+        required:       true,
+        type:           'number',
+        translationKey: 'workload.replicas'
+      });
+      break;
+    case WORKLOAD_TYPES.STATEFUL_SET:
+      out.push({
+        nullable:       false,
+        path:           'spec.replicas',
+        required:       true,
+        type:           'number',
+        translationKey: 'workload.replicas'
+      });
+      out.push({
+        nullable:       false,
+        path:           'spec.serviceName',
+        required:       true,
+        type:           'string',
+        translationKey: 'workload.serviceName'
+      });
+      break;
+    case WORKLOAD_TYPES.CRON_JOB:
+      out.push( {
+        nullable:       false,
+        path:           'spec.schedule',
+        required:       true,
+        type:           'string',
+        validators:     ['cronSchedule'],
+      });
+    }
+
+    return out;
+  },
+
   container() {
     if (this.type === WORKLOAD_TYPES.CRON_JOB) {
       // cronjob pod template is nested slightly different than other types
diff --git a/plugins/steve/resource-instance.js b/plugins/steve/resource-instance.js
index 1ce0a0d7d3e..5833cc41be6 100644
--- a/plugins/steve/resource-instance.js
+++ b/plugins/steve/resource-instance.js
@@ -1204,6 +1204,7 @@ export default {
             type: fieldType,
           } = rule;
           let pathValue = get(data, path) || null;
+
           const parsedRules = compact((validators || []));
           let displayKey = path;
 
diff --git a/utils/custom-validators.js b/utils/custom-validators.js
index 9a3d120777b..dafa79a4561 100644
--- a/utils/custom-validators.js
+++ b/utils/custom-validators.js
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ import { flowOutput } from '@/utils/validators/flow-output';
 import { clusterIp, externalName, servicePort } from '@/utils/validators/service';
 import { ruleGroups, groupsAreValid } from '@/utils/validators/prometheusrule';
 import { interval, matching } from '@/utils/validators/monitoring-route';
+import { containerImages } from '@/utils/validators/container-images';
+import { cronSchedule } from '@/utils/validators/cron-schedule';
 
 /**
 * Custom validation functions beyond normal scalr types
@@ -16,5 +18,7 @@ export default {
   ruleGroups,
   interval,
   servicePort,
-  matching
+  matching,
+  containerImages,
+  cronSchedule
 };
diff --git a/utils/validators/container-images.js b/utils/validators/container-images.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..adfbad50edb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/validators/container-images.js
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+export function containerImages(spec, getters, errors) {
+  let container;
+
+  if (spec.jobTemplate) {
+    // cronjob pod template is nested slightly different than other types
+    const { jobTemplate: { spec: { template: { spec: { containers = [] } } } } } = spec;
+
+    container = containers[0] || {};
+  } else {
+    const { template:{ spec:{ containers = [] } } } = spec;
+
+    container = containers[0] || {};
+  }
+
+  if (!container.image) {
+    errors.push(getters['i18n/t']('validation.required', { key: getters['i18n/t']('workload.container.image') }));
+  }
+}
diff --git a/utils/validators/cron-schedule.js b/utils/validators/cron-schedule.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d726f6644c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/validators/cron-schedule.js
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+import cronstrue from 'cronstrue';
+
+export function cronSchedule(schedule = '', getters, errors) {
+  try {
+    cronstrue.toString(schedule);
+  } catch (e) {
+    errors.push(getters['i18n/t']('validation.invalidCron'));
+  }
+}
diff --git a/utils/validators/index.js b/utils/validators/index.js
index da6ddf0bddf..5483dbe844d 100644
--- a/utils/validators/index.js
+++ b/utils/validators/index.js
@@ -34,10 +34,12 @@ export function validateLength(val, field, displayKey, getters, errors = []) {
   } = field;
   const len = val ? get(val, 'length') : 0;
 
-  if ( !nullable && required && isEmpty(val) ) {
-    errors.push(getters['i18n/t']('validation.required', { key: displayKey }));
+  if ( !nullable && required) {
+    if ((typeof val === 'object' && isEmpty(val)) || !val) {
+      errors.push(getters['i18n/t']('validation.required', { key: displayKey }));
 
-    return errors;
+      return errors;
+    }
   }
 
   if ( val === null ) {