sub fetch_time
{
  Other variables declarations ...
  my($cur_ts);  <-- variable in which I am going to receive the epoch
  Other variables declarations ...

  # get the current timestamp
  $cur_ts = time(); <-- fetching current epoch
  print "$cur_ts;\n";

  Other operations ...
}

Samples
sample 1:
  system epoch - 1234867548
  epoch printed - 1234871946

sample 2:
  system epoch - 1234868856
  epoch printed - 1234873254

sample 3:
  system epoch - 1234928039
  epoch printed - 1234932437