Laws still require enforcement. And from what I've seen California is a bit over-hyped in many ways, including how liberal/progressive it is, how hard it is to start and run a business, and how well it protects employees.
My tl;dr layman's understanding is that in CA, missing a payroll equates to the company is no longer a going concern. It's a serious problem to miss a payroll, and this is a good thing. If you are responsible for payroll at a CA company, you need to see a potential shortfall coming well in advance and respond preemptively by negotiating [hopefully] temporary salary cuts with your employees or preparing the team to go on unpaid leave (this is legal - you should continue paying their insurance premiums though).
