“Better late than never” doesn’t work in tight economic times. And it especially doesn’t work for anyone whose paycheck comes from a retailer, a hotel or other hospitality employer.

Punctuality is preferable when jobs are scarce – and  more workers are arriving on time, a new CareerBuilder.com survey shows. Yet a few inventive staffers come up with crazy explanations for showing up late. Among the examples collected by CareerBuilder.com from hiring managers:

-”I dreamt I was at work already.”

-”I had an early morning gig as a clown.”

-”I had to go to the hospital because I drank anti-freeze.”

-”My dog swallowed my cell phone.”

And this one, clearly offered by someone who’s living on subsistance wages: “My car door fell off.”

The biggest reasons for running late: traffic and lack of sleep. Seven percent of the tardy types blamed their children’s preparations, or drop off at school or day care, and another seven percent blamed weather.

Overall though, fewer workers showed  up for work late in the last year, CareerBuilder reports, based on a HarrisInteractive survey of 5,231 full-time employees.

Some 16 percent admit to tardiness at least once a week, down from 20 percent in 2008. The margin of error was 1.8 percent. CareerBuilder says the tighter job market may contribute to less lateness.

Or perhaps workers got the message when a colleague was fired for oversleeping a few times.  One-third (34 percent) of employers surveyed by CareerBuilder say they have let go someone for arriving late, up a bit from the previous latecomers survey.

But some sectors are more of a stickler for on-time staff. Nearly two-thirds of the leisure and hospitality managers and half of retail managers surveyed said they had dismissed someone who was late, CareerBuilder said. Least likely to fire slow pokes were government and IT managers.

It’s not just the repeat offender who’s late every day who’s at risk. Based on a survey two years ago, one-fifth of employers said they’d likely fire someone who was late only one to three times. Another 8 percent would take that drastic step after four to six late arrivals.

As one who has shown up after the usual start time at more than one newspaper, I’m hoping this punctuality trend loses  momentum as the economy gains some. And I wish that all my bosses and yours fall in the 43 percent who said arrival time doesn’t matter as long as the work is done on time, and with high quality.

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If you need help getting to work on time, start by looking for motivation and time saving steps.

Allen Teal’s blog post on Socyberty offers 10 common-sense tips for on-time arrivals. Among them: Raise the priority you put on your job.

And Deb Gebeke with North Dakota State University Extension offers some good advice, aimed mostly at working Moms or Dads, on avoiding the morning rush. Have children make their own lunches, if they’re old enough. And remember to reward yourself if you arrive to work on time.

I won’t add any suggestions here, but welcome your best tips to be on time for work.