When striking Tonight Show writers open their mailboxes this week, they’ll find a paycheck; not from the network, but from host Jay Leno himself.

Over 120 Tonight Show staff recently received Christmas bonus checks, but were laid off early for the holiday season, with no guarantee they’d have jobs when the program resumes following the writers’ strike, which could come within the next couple weeks if the WGA accepts a contract proposal they are reviewing from producers, but may stretch into the unforeseen future if they do not.

The 120 layoffs match a similar layoff two weeks ago of staff who depend on the NBC comedy The Office for their weekly pay. The longer the the strike stretches out, the more common such layoffs will become.

The personal bonus from Leno was $100 for each year a staffer has been on staff with the show since he took over; not much money by Hollywood standards, but all of it apparently out of Leno’s personal account, not the network’s.