Hearthside’s $4.5 Million Child Labor Settlement: Illinois Tells Workers Who Were Under 16 to Claim by November 20, 2026 — Up to Half the Money Is for Them, and Immigration Status Doesn’t Matter

As of October 10, 2026, the Hearthside Food Solutions settlement is open for claims, and the deadline is November 20, 2026. On September 23, 2026 the Illinois Attorney General and the Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) put out a joint reminder under the line “Claims for Compensation Under Settlement Can be Filed Until Nov. 20.” The agencies said they are “encouraging eligible workers who were under the age of 16 when they worked at Hearthside Food Solutions LLC (Hearthside) to submit claims for compensation under the state’s $4.5 million settlement before the Nov. 20 deadline.”

This is not a consumer settlement. Buying a snack or cereal bar that Hearthside made for another brand does not qualify you for anything. It is also not a private class action: there is no opt-out, no objection deadline and no fairness hearing in the sources we read. The money comes from a settlement the state reached with the company, and the only step for a worker is a claim form.

The Attorney General’s release sets the test in one sentence: “Individuals who worked at a Hearthside facility in Illinois while under the age of 16 at any point between March 1, 2020 and Dec. 4, 2024 are eligible for compensation under this settlement.” Three things have to be true: the plant was in Illinois, the work fell between March 1, 2020 and December 4, 2024, and you were younger than 16 for at least part of that time. Work at Hearthside plants in other states is not covered by this Illinois settlement. The Attorney General’s office has described the underlying findings as minors “working as temporary employees in hazardous positions,” and the eligibility test in the September release asks only whether you worked at a Hearthside facility in Illinois while under 16.

How much? IDOL’s 2025 Labor Day Report says: “Up to half of the settlement amount will be available to individuals who may have worked at a Hearthside facility in Illinois while under the age of 16.” That is up to half of the $4.5 million; IDOL does not say what the rest pays for. No official source we could read publishes a per-person amount, the number of claims filed so far or a payment date, so anyone quoting you a fixed dollar figure is guessing. How payments are calculated is not stated in the sources we could read.

File online with Atticus Administration. The release says: “Claim forms can be submitted online with Atticus Administration, the third-party administrator hired to manage the settlement.” The official site is HearthsideFSSettlement.com, in English and Spanish. Its home page says the site is “maintained by the Administrator retained and supervised by the Illinois Department of Labor and the Office of the Illinois Attorney General.”

Get free help if you lack papers. Many people who worked as teenagers may have no pay stubs left. The official site and the Attorney General both point to the Chicago Workers’ Collaborative, a worker center, at 630-824-7724; the site says it can help “in filling out your claim or proving you worked as a minor at Hearthside, free of charge.” Gather anything that shows your age and that you worked at the plant: an ID, agency paperwork, texts about shifts, a badge.

Do not let fear stop you. The Attorney General’s office states: “Claimants’ personal information will be kept confidential, and immigration status does not affect the ability to submit a claim.” Many of the people who qualify were under 16 then and are adults now; the claim is still theirs to make.

The deadline is a date, not a window. IDOL wrote that the settlement “will remain in effect for two years from the effective date of the agreement, and impacted workers may submit claims during this time.” The agencies’ own date for the end of that period is November 20, 2026.

The settlement is real: it is announced on the Illinois Attorney General’s website and described in IDOL’s 2025 Labor Day Report. Use only HearthsideFSSettlement.com, the administrator Atticus Administration, or the Chicago Workers’ Collaborative at 630-824-7724. The people this settlement is meant for were children when they worked there, which can make them targets. Three warning signs: anyone who wants a fee to file or to release your records; anyone who threatens to report your immigration status unless you pay; anyone who promises a set dollar amount, since none has been published.

If you suspect someone is exploiting workers now, the Attorney General’s Workplace Rights Hotline is 844-740-5076.

What is Hearthside called now? Hearthside’s parent, H-Food Holdings LLC, emerged from Chapter 11 in 2025 as Maker’s Pride LLC. Trade publication Snack & Bakery reported that it “emerged from Chapter 11 as Maker’s Pride LLC, following approval of a reorganization plan,” after filing for bankruptcy in November 2024. The Attorney General says the child labor settlement “was reached just before the company filed for bankruptcy.” The rename does not change the claim: the agencies’ September 2026 release still names Hearthside and the same deadline.

Who owns Hearthside Food Solutions LLC? According to the company’s statement quoted by Just Food, Maker’s Pride is “under the majority ownership of a group of its existing lenders, including funds managed by Apollo and Oaktree Capital Management, L.P.” The restructuring removed about $2 billion of funded debt. Just Food asked whether the earlier private-equity owners, Charlesbank Capital Partners and Partners Group, still hold equity; the company did not say.

What does Hearthside make? It is a contract manufacturer of “baked foods, snacks, and nutrition bars” for other brands, headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois, with 27 facilities in its production network, per Snack & Bakery.

The two state agencies ran a joint investigation into “allegations of minors under the age of 16 working in hazardous and dangerous working conditions at Hearthside facilities in Illinois,” according to IDOL. The sources disagree slightly on when it was settled: IDOL dates the agreement to December 4, 2024, the last day of the eligibility period; the Attorney General’s office says it settled in January 2025. Both name the same $4.5 million. The settlement resolves allegations; they were not tested in a trial.

Beyond the money, the settlement requires Hearthside to set up “an anonymous hotline”, designate employees to review its anti-child labor policies and train staff, and “allow state agencies to audit its practices and conduct training sessions at its facilities.” Plants in other states and other proceedings are separate matters; this settlement covers only work in Illinois. Our Hearthside settlement page tracks the case after the deadline.