To my knowledge, every American Eagle is a franchise, so each will be run quite differently while staying within their curriculum.
It may be true that some schools will work you extra, but some are also fair about it. I worked at AES for 2 years and had a good experience with it. I had a good boss and good coworkers. So really, it’s a luck of the draw to get a good school with good managers/coworkers.
Keep your options open though.
That’s funny. When I had an interview at one, every time something objectionable came up it was sorry, we have to do this because the head office forces us to… 
Yeah, I’m sure there are certain rules that cannot be broken, but my boss was pretty relaxed and fair about things. I don’t know if it makes a difference but he was a foreigner as well.
If you’re still out there 6 years later, do you feel the same way about AE? Any surprises, good or bad, or significant differences between AE and others?
I understand there are some AEs that are “flagship” but the majority (as @yyy says) are franchise. I’m not clear on the difference. Any thoughts?
Actually it was @redhead_traveler who said it (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
If you have a normal work permit (you don’t have a marriage based ARC or gold card etc.), it will be for one specific buxiban. If they ask you to work at another branch, make sure they get you a second work permit.
I work for one in Taichung.
They’re not all franchises.
The company has what they call “flagship schools” which are owned and operated directly by the company, and franchises where the franchisee has a (tiny) bit more freedom in terms of adhering to guidelines. The franchises are still monitored by the head office, and send in the kids’ midterms and final exams to be checked. Once or twice a year twice they send a couple of corporate reps to observe classes (though they mostly sit on their asses in the lobby talking to taiwanese staff and the owner).
My first year was gravy and I was reasonably satisfied with my working conditions, but this year has been totally fubar. The curriculum is just too packed. There’s little room or available time for teachers to incorporate games and activities (yet the boss still hammers the fact that class should be “fun”). Fortunately, working for a franchise (as opposed to a flagship school) we don’t have to decorate our own classrooms, but there are plenty of unpaid activities. A couple field trips per semester, ridiculous “communication corners” which is an online progress report app we use to communicate with parents, speaking contest and spelling bee. To be fair, I don’t have to do any dancing monkey work like those poor bastards at Hess, but it’s still not an ideal situation. Plus, the owner is a cheapskate and I definitely won’t be signing for a third year.