Can an employee view his/her own file?

Depends on the policy of the company, but in most companies the answer is no. You should be able to view your performance appraisal review and salary history records, but you probably already see these. There may be other documents in HR files that the company may consider private. The only way to force them to share such documents is through a subpoena.

I agree, I was an HR director for years and those files belong to the company and are their property. Why do you ask?

You have the right to see anything that you signed, like your application, I9, W4, write-ups, reviews etc. The employer is not required to drop everything and prepare the file for your review; they have a "reasonable amount of time" to prepare it for you. Most employers have documentation on you that you have not signed, and typically they would not make that available to you and have to requirement to do so.

Sorry, should have proofread, *they have NO requirement to do so.