diff --git a/apps/spark/src/main/java/com/linkedin/openhouse/jobs/client/TablesClient.java b/apps/spark/src/main/java/com/linkedin/openhouse/jobs/client/TablesClient.java
index 93107c99a..5609ffaf8 100644
--- a/apps/spark/src/main/java/com/linkedin/openhouse/jobs/client/TablesClient.java
+++ b/apps/spark/src/main/java/com/linkedin/openhouse/jobs/client/TablesClient.java
@@ -470,6 +470,21 @@ private List<DataLayoutStrategy> getDataLayoutStrategies(GetTableResponseBody ta
         tableProps.get(StrategiesDaoTableProps.DATA_LAYOUT_STRATEGIES_PROPERTY_KEY));
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Read the persisted data layout strategies for a table from its table properties.
+   *
+   * <p>Returns an empty list if the table is missing or has no {@code write.data-layout.strategies}
+   * property. Used by the scheduler to skip launching compaction jobs that the strategy generator
+   * has already shown will produce no useful work.
+   */
+  public List<DataLayoutStrategy> getDataLayoutStrategies(TableMetadata tableMetadata) {
+    GetTableResponseBody response = getTable(tableMetadata);
+    if (response == null) {
+      return Collections.emptyList();
+    }
+    return getDataLayoutStrategies(response);
+  }
+
   protected @NonNull String getTableCreator(GetTableResponseBody responseBody) {
     return Objects.requireNonNull(responseBody.getTableCreator());
   }
diff --git a/apps/spark/src/main/java/com/linkedin/openhouse/jobs/scheduler/tasks/TableDataCompactionTask.java b/apps/spark/src/main/java/com/linkedin/openhouse/jobs/scheduler/tasks/TableDataCompactionTask.java
index 32baa0465..742e973c7 100644
--- a/apps/spark/src/main/java/com/linkedin/openhouse/jobs/scheduler/tasks/TableDataCompactionTask.java
+++ b/apps/spark/src/main/java/com/linkedin/openhouse/jobs/scheduler/tasks/TableDataCompactionTask.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package com.linkedin.openhouse.jobs.scheduler.tasks;
 
+import com.linkedin.openhouse.datalayout.strategy.DataLayoutStrategy;
 import com.linkedin.openhouse.jobs.client.JobsClient;
 import com.linkedin.openhouse.jobs.client.TablesClient;
 import com.linkedin.openhouse.jobs.client.model.JobConf;
@@ -7,6 +8,7 @@
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
+import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
 
 /**
  * A task to rewrite data files in a table.
@@ -14,6 +16,7 @@
  * @see <a href="https://iceberg.apache.org/docs/latest/maintenance/#compact-data-files">Compact
  *     data files</a>
  */
+@Slf4j
 public class TableDataCompactionTask extends TableOperationTask<TableMetadata> {
   public static final JobConf.JobTypeEnum OPERATION_TYPE = JobConf.JobTypeEnum.DATA_COMPACTION;
 
@@ -44,6 +47,24 @@ protected List<String> getArgs() {
 
   @Override
   protected boolean shouldRunTask() {
-    return metadata.isPrimary() && (metadata.isTimePartitioned() || metadata.isClustered());
+    if (!metadata.isPrimary() || (!metadata.isTimePartitioned() && !metadata.isClustered())) {
+      return false;
+    }
+    List<DataLayoutStrategy> strategies = tablesClient.getDataLayoutStrategies(metadata);
+    if (strategies.isEmpty()) {
+      log.info(
+          "Skipping data compaction for {}: no data-layout strategies persisted on the table",
+          metadata.fqtn());
+      return false;
+    }
+    boolean hasPositiveGain = strategies.stream().anyMatch(s -> s.getGain() > 0);
+    if (!hasPositiveGain) {
+      log.info(
+          "Skipping data compaction for {}: all {} strategies have gain <= 0",
+          metadata.fqtn(),
+          strategies.size());
+      return false;
+    }
+    return true;
   }
 }
diff --git a/apps/spark/src/test/java/com/linkedin/openhouse/jobs/scheduler/tasks/TableDataCompactionTaskTest.java b/apps/spark/src/test/java/com/linkedin/openhouse/jobs/scheduler/tasks/TableDataCompactionTaskTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..30be3af25
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/spark/src/test/java/com/linkedin/openhouse/jobs/scheduler/tasks/TableDataCompactionTaskTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+package com.linkedin.openhouse.jobs.scheduler.tasks;
+
+import com.linkedin.openhouse.datalayout.strategy.DataLayoutStrategy;
+import com.linkedin.openhouse.jobs.client.JobsClient;
+import com.linkedin.openhouse.jobs.client.TablesClient;
+import com.linkedin.openhouse.jobs.util.TableMetadata;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.mockito.Mockito;
+
+public class TableDataCompactionTaskTest {
+  private TablesClient tablesClient;
+  private JobsClient jobsClient;
+  private TableMetadata tableMetadata;
+  private TableDataCompactionTask task;
+
+  @BeforeEach
+  void setup() {
+    tablesClient = Mockito.mock(TablesClient.class);
+    jobsClient = Mockito.mock(JobsClient.class);
+    tableMetadata = Mockito.mock(TableMetadata.class);
+    Mockito.when(tableMetadata.fqtn()).thenReturn("db.table");
+    Mockito.when(tableMetadata.isPrimary()).thenReturn(true);
+    Mockito.when(tableMetadata.isTimePartitioned()).thenReturn(true);
+    Mockito.when(tableMetadata.isClustered()).thenReturn(false);
+    task = new TableDataCompactionTask(jobsClient, tablesClient, tableMetadata);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void shouldRunWhenAtLeastOneStrategyHasPositiveGain() {
+    Mockito.when(tablesClient.getDataLayoutStrategies(tableMetadata))
+        .thenReturn(
+            Arrays.asList(
+                DataLayoutStrategy.builder().gain(0.0).build(),
+                DataLayoutStrategy.builder().gain(2.5).build()));
+    Assertions.assertTrue(task.shouldRunTask());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void shouldNotRunWhenStrategiesEmpty() {
+    Mockito.when(tablesClient.getDataLayoutStrategies(tableMetadata))
+        .thenReturn(Collections.emptyList());
+    Assertions.assertFalse(task.shouldRunTask());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void shouldNotRunWhenAllStrategiesHaveNonPositiveGain() {
+    Mockito.when(tablesClient.getDataLayoutStrategies(tableMetadata))
+        .thenReturn(
+            Arrays.asList(
+                DataLayoutStrategy.builder().gain(0.0).build(),
+                DataLayoutStrategy.builder().gain(-1.0).build()));
+    Assertions.assertFalse(task.shouldRunTask());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void shouldNotRunForNonPrimaryTable() {
+    Mockito.when(tableMetadata.isPrimary()).thenReturn(false);
+    Assertions.assertFalse(task.shouldRunTask());
+    // No need to fetch strategies if the primary/partitioning guard fails first.
+    Mockito.verify(tablesClient, Mockito.never()).getDataLayoutStrategies(tableMetadata);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void shouldNotRunWhenNeitherPartitionedNorClustered() {
+    Mockito.when(tableMetadata.isTimePartitioned()).thenReturn(false);
+    Mockito.when(tableMetadata.isClustered()).thenReturn(false);
+    Assertions.assertFalse(task.shouldRunTask());
+    Mockito.verify(tablesClient, Mockito.never()).getDataLayoutStrategies(tableMetadata);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void shouldRunForClusteredNonTimePartitionedTableWithGain() {
+    Mockito.when(tableMetadata.isTimePartitioned()).thenReturn(false);
+    Mockito.when(tableMetadata.isClustered()).thenReturn(true);
+    Mockito.when(tablesClient.getDataLayoutStrategies(tableMetadata))
+        .thenReturn(Collections.singletonList(DataLayoutStrategy.builder().gain(1.0).build()));
+    Assertions.assertTrue(task.shouldRunTask());
+  }
+}