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SACRAMENTO — About 1 million Californians laid off as a result of the terrorist attacks will get an extra bonus in their unemployment checks starting this week, Gov. Gray Davis announced Sunday. 

The benefits will be paid retroactively, and some workers could receive up to an additional $2,600, said Steve Smith, director of state’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency. 

About 326,000 checks totaling $283 million will go out Monday with the remaining checks expected to arrive in October or November, Smith said. 

Monday’s checks will be processed for those who filed claims on or after Sept. 9, 2001. On Aug. 18, the same benefits will be processed for those who filed before that date but didn’t collect benefits until after. 

“These measures support workers adversely affected by the events of Sept. 11 and the economic downturn,” Davis said in a statement. 

To be eligible for the retroactive benefits, a claim must have been filed on or before Dec. 30, 2001 with weekly unemployment benefits being paid beginning on or after Sept. 11, 2001. Claimants must also have a weekly benefit amount of $97 or more with certain provisions applied to earnings criteria.