From when I was a founder and ran into this, I was advised from my attorney in a simple phrase, pay them.

tldr; make sure you work at least a few hours that week and that generally forces your employers hand.

Some states have specific laws on the books so you should always check, but even if they don't there are already a set of federal laws protecting employees. Basic rule is exempt employees are to be paid for the jury time, though there are a few potential loopholes. The advice I was given though was just pay up as it isn't worth the headaches later.

The reality, if you work 1 hour during the entire week, from home or at the court house, or train ride in etc, you have provided services for your employer and are entitled to be paid. There are some thoughts (maybe rules) that state if you do no work during the week and take a full 5 days off that the employer can ask you to take PTO or go unpaid, but they cannot punish you in any way.

California likely has more detailed laws around this so I'd check just to know. I will say, when you are bootstrapped as I was and have someone gone for a week that isn't a nothing impact, it hurts. The reality is I could have likely gotten the employee free from jury duty because it was a hardship to the business (yes that is real), but to me that is just wrong and sends the wrong signal to everyone.

If you are working for a startup, it is likely they just don't know the laws and are trying to figure it out too, so I'd not be a jerk about it but also be up front. If they are a larger company, they likely know the rules and are trying to be less than fair and skirt their responsibilities to the system and to you.

obligatory, IANAL, just have paid a number of them over the years for professional advice.

"If they are a larger company, they likely know the rules and are trying to be less than fair and skirt their responsibilities to the system and to you."

~200 employees so this is probably the case. Although I may wait to see if I actually do get paid before I bring it up. It's possible that incorrect information was given to me.

Yea, there is no reason they should be asking you to take PTO then, IMO. It all kind of becomes moot if you go and either get dismissed or are only there for 2-3 days since you'd be working the other days anyway.

FWIW too, a lot of newer managers, and younger people just don't know these laws/rules simply because they haven't ran into them yet. So it is common to have them make, sometimes odd, requests with no malice or bad intentions, just out of a lack of knowledge.

The more I think about it, the more I believe this is the case. But thank you for the guidance.

That is correct, you should be compensated for your time in Jury Duty. One should be expected to spend anywhere from 1-5+ days on Jury Duty.

Depends on your state. In California, I think you are out of luck. Some companies give extra time off for jury duty, however.