A Conservative government would offer up to 15 million workers three days' paid leave a year for volunteering.
The move, which will affect the public sector and large firms, comes alongside a separate Tory pledge guaranteeing that regulated rail fares will not go up by more than inflation until 2020.
Labour said the volunteering idea was a "re-announcement" from 2008.
It also questioned how the real-terms ticket freeze would be paid for, saying fares had risen by 20% since 2010
In other election news:
- Labour say they will protect neighbourhood policing in England and Wales and ensure that forces will not have to cut officer numbers.
- Ed Miliband will promise not to "sell Scotland short" over the SNP's plans for fiscal autonomy
- The Lib Dems pledge a new scheme to help young working people borrow up to £2,000 from government to put towards a tenancy deposit
- Three opinion polls published on Thursday give Labour a lead, ranging from three to six points, while two others put the Conservatives ahead by one
- The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition is to launch its manifesto in London, promising to field more than 130 candidates
- A UKIP candidate is to be questioned over allegations he tried to influence voters by giving away sausage rolls at a party event
Under the Conservatives' volunteering plans, a new law would be passed requiring public sector employers and companies with more than 250 employees to give staff up to three days a year to do voluntary work.
Employers would cover the cost.
Economy
Conservative
Main pledges
- Eliminate the deficit and run an overall surplus by the end of the parliament
- Aim for full employment where "anyone who wants a job is able to get a job"
- Use money saved in reducing the benefits cap to fund 3 million apprenticeships
- Triple the number of start-up loans to businesses to 75,000
BBC home editor Mark Easton said David Cameron's announcement was a reminder of his Big Society theme from the 2010 election "which many had thought had been binned" but the prime minister believed was clearly "in action".
'Give-and-take'
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said the move would "enhance productivity" but suggested that employers worried about the impact it would have on their operations may be able to opt out.
"Nobody is forcing anyone to volunteer. Nobody is forcing companies to organise this volunteering if it causes problems to the company," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"We expect people to have a bit of give-and-take on this as we expect people to have a bit of give-and-take with regard to annual leave."
He rejected suggestions it could prove a financial burden for smaller firms and a logistical headache for organisations such as the NHS which would have to fill in behind those taking time off.
"It would be worked out according to patterns of work and to ensure it did not cause inconvenience to the health service," he said.
Analysis
By Carole Walker, Conservative campaign correspondent
Have the Conservatives heeded the criticism of negative campaigning? Today David Cameron will focus on two positive announcements as he campaigns in the South West where the Tories are hoping to seize seats from the Liberal Democrats.
The freeze on commuter rail fares for five years represents an attempt to encroach onto Labour's cost of living agenda.
It is in fact an extension of what has happened for the past two years, when regulated fares have been capped at the rate of inflation. But it allows the Conservatives to woo those "hardworking families" beloved by politicians of all parties.
To read the full piece, go to the 09.49 entry in our live page.
The idea was welcomed by the CBI employers group, which described it as a "win-win for everyone concerned", while Scouts Association president Bear Grylls said it would help nurture "solid communities".
But the Institute of Directors said it smacked of "heavy-handed government intervention".
And Labour pointed out David Cameron had made a similar pledge in 2008, while leader of the opposition, in relation to the public sector. "Since then this has become just another broken promise with volunteering falling under the Tories," Labour's civil society spokeswoman Lisa Nandy said.
She added that there was "no sense" of how the public sector could fund the pledge, saying: "If just half of public sector workers took this up it would be the time equivalent of around 2,000 nurses, 800 police and almost 3,000 teachers."
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) initially welcomed the proposal as good for union activists, but has since learned the policy could not be used for union activities.
In a later statement, the union said the volunteering plans were "getting more confused by the minute".
Mr Cameron is also set to announce that the freeze on regulated rail fares at the level of inflation - which has been in place for the last two years - would continue throughout the next Parliament if the Conservatives win power.
Regulated fares cover about half of all tickets sold, including season tickets and off-peak intercity returns. Fares have risen by an average of 2.8% and 2.2% in the past two years, with increases pegged to the level of retail price inflation each July.
The Conservatives said the move would save the average rail commuter about £400 between now and 2020, and would cost "in the low hundreds of millions".
But Labour's shadow transport secretary Michael Dugher said the plan was "unfunded, uncosted and frankly totally unbelievable", and that fares had risen by an average of 20% since 2010.
'Freebie Friday'
Another policy pledge on Friday comes from the Liberal Democrats, who are targeting young workers who are still living with their parents.
The party's "Help to Rent" scheme would allow under-30s to borrow the cash for a deposit from the government, to be paid back within two years.
The maximum loan will be £2,000 in London and £1,500 in the rest of England. To be eligible, tenants would need to be between 18 and 30, in paid employment and not seeking social housing.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: "It's simply unfair that thousands of hard-working young people still have to live in the same bedroom they lived in when children.
"When you get your own job, you want to stand on your own two feet, have your own space, and not have to rely on the bank of mum and dad."
Dubbing the Conservative and Lib Dem announcements as "freebie Friday", the BBC's assistant political editor Norman Smith said he expected more of these "retail offers" as the campaign progressed.
Labour, meanwhile, have said they would safeguard 10,000 police officers in England and Wales over the next three years by saving £800m from the Home Office budget, including by scrapping police commissioners and stopping police having to pay towards the cost of issuing gun licenses.
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