yes, if you don't have a bank account.

if you are not living paycheck to paycheck, you can keep the minimum balance in a checking account and then arrange have your paycheck automatically deposited every payday with Direct Deposit. This is free.

Check cashing places give you cash for paper checks. They charge a fee for the service.

The more shocking tidbit is that lots of Americans still get a literal paper paycheck.

Not if you have a bank account.

Only if you want cash immediately. In this case, the fee is basically insurance against the check bouncing. It's free if you instead deposit the check and wait a day or two for it to clear before withdrawing the cash, since in that case they can just take the money back out of your account and not suffer any loss if you gave them a fraudulent check.

If it is a physical check (cheque), then often, yes.