With fewer employees coming in late to work these days than they did a year ago, you might think the well of bizarre excuses they come up with for being late was running low as well.

You’d be wrong.

According to CareerBuilder’s most recent survey, released today, 16 percent of workers said they arrive late to work at least once a week, down from 20 percent who said the same in last year’s survey.  Eight percent of workers said they are late at least twice a week, down from 12 percent last year.

The decrease in tardiness could indicate that worries over job security may have workers taking punctuality – and their overall on-the-job performance – more seriously, says CareerBuilder’s vice president of human resources, Rosemary Haefner, in the press release.

Of the more than 5,200 workers who participated in the survey, 32 percent cited traffic as the biggest reason for being tardy, followed by lack of sleep (24 percent). Seven percent said getting their kids ready for school or day care was the cause of their lateness, while the same amount (7 percent) said bad weather was the culprit. Other common reasons included public transportation, wardrobe issues or dealing with pets.

And then…there were the following uncommon reasons employees have given for being late (according to hiring managers surveyed):

• “I got mugged and was tied to the steering wheel of my car.”
• “My deodorant was frozen to the window sill.”
• “My car door fell off.”
• “It was too windy.”
• “I dreamt I was already at work.”
• “I had to go to the hospital because I drank antifreeze.”
• “I had an early morning gig as a clown.”
• “A roach crawled in my ear.” 
• “I saw an elderly lady at a bus stop and decided to pick her up.”
• “My dog swallowed my cell phone.”

Perhaps it is hard-to-believe excuses like these that help explain why 34 percent of hiring managers reported that they’ve terminated employees for being late (up from 30 percent who said the same last year).

Or perhaps employee tardiness indicates a bigger problem at hand, such as the need to better communicate the company’s tardiness policy, or simply a need among employees for a better work-life balance.

What do you think? How much can you forgive an employee for being late before it becomes a serious problem?