In August of 2015 the vacation policy/procedure was updated, and clarified the special circumstances section:

Special Circumstances

Under certain circumstances, with pre-approval from the supervisor in collaboration with Human Resources an employee may be allowed to use vacation time up to a negative ten days total, annually. Such circumstances may include, but not limited to: moving time for new employees, sickness of employee and/or family before sick leave accumulation, or use of vacation time during the first year of employment before vacation time is accumulated.

Upon leaving employment with NMC, the last day of work shall be considered the termination date. The staff member will be paid in a lump sum for unused accrued vacation on the next regular payroll date up to a maximum of twice the annual accrual.

Please find the policy and procedure here.