MOSCOW, April 8 - RAPSI. President Vladimir Putin has signed a law limiting benefits for being temporarily unfit to work, the Kremlin has announced on its website.

The law was drafted after an audit of the Social Security Fund revealed excessive incapacity payments were being issued to FC Zenit players.

According to the law, the largest temporary incapacity to work payment for a full calendar month must not exceed the sum of four maximum monthly insurance premiums. A mechanism for calculating payments is provided for cases when temporary incapacity payments based on the average monthly wage exceed the approved ceiling.

To prevent workplace accidents which were the fault of workers or the result of lax work discipline, the law allows employers to reduce temporary incapacity payments, or to refuse to pay them at all in cases when an illness or an injury were due to alcoholic, drug or substance intoxication, or actions related to being under the influence, or if the patient did not comply with the doctor's recommendations.

The statement posted on the Kremlin website reads that "the highest possible monthly insurance premium is calculated in accordance with the federal law on the budget of the Federal Social Security Fund for the given financial year, and so the largest possible temporary incapacity payment in case of workplace accidents or due to occupational illnesses will be recalculated annually."

It is thought that this year this limitation will affect "no more than 90 highly paid insured citizens, notably professional athletes and top executives of large companies."