From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpunch the clockpunch the clockAmerican English informalBEC to record the time that you start or finish work by putting a card into a special machine → punch
Examples from the Corpus
punch the clock• Bob is glad to have a job where he doesn't have to punch the clock.• Bobby punched the clock in four other maquilas before she got her current job as a clothes inspector at the Minsa plant. 