How long can you work for a company without getting regular paychecks?

I can and did work for a long time with numerous weeks of payroll that were never paid. As long as they paid at least every other week, I could make it, but when they went 3 to 4 weeks without a paycheck, I had to draw the line. I was driving 100 round trip miles per day and with today's gas prices was spending more than $100.00 a week.